Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti has urged residents who are not covered by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to do so in order to enjoy subsidized cost of accessing healthcare.
Speaking while on her second day tour of Machakos level 5 hospital Tuesday afternoon, Wavinya said NHIF was critical in easing the burden of healthcare costs especially to the majority of rural residents.
“I encourage our people who are yet to sign up for NHIF to do so as soon as possible in order to offload the burden of the unaffordable cost of accessing some healthcare services in both public and private institutions,” she said.
The governor made the remarks after a section of relatives of patients who are admitted in the county’s largest health facility pleaded with her to help them clear pending hospital bills.
“Some of these bills would not have accumulated to unmanageable amounts if the patients were using NHIF cards,” she said.
She however pledged her administration will explore mechanisms through which a waiver of the bills could be facilitated.
Wavinya said her administration will launch an initiative with the national government targeting senior citizens aged over 70 and the needy to ensure they are covered by the national health insurer.
She noted that she was impressed by the functional state of the Computerized Tomography (CT) scan machine which is operational and directed that patients should no longer be referred to seek the service from private practitioners.
She also pledged that the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine will roar back to service after several months of breakdown.
