Some 600 vulnerable people in Samburu West constituency have been enrolled with NHIF.
They include orphans, people living with disability and poor people who frequent health facilities.
Samburu West MP Naisula Lessuda said the 600 were selected from at least 6,000 families in her constituency after a health survey was carried out.
"More than 6,000 households do not have a medical fund or financial capabilities to afford health cover but we said even if we do not have enough funds, we will start from somewhere," she said.
"My office has made a decision to pay for NHIF for the poor and neediest."
The legislator urged the county to work with NHIF to ensure all health facilities are accredited.
"We have 91 health facilities in our county, 60 are accredited to NHIF, we need the rest to be fully accredited. It doesn’t make sense when you have an NHIF card yet you can’t use it because a facility is not accredited,” Lessuda said
According to USAID, only 10 per cent of the households in Samburu county are enrolled in the NHIF programme.
Chief of Party at USAID Gilbert Wagalwa said various initiatives will be adopted to raise the number to 40 per cent by the end of the year.
“Those households that are able to pay and have no information will continue receiving education and sensitisation on the need for them to enrol into NHIF,” he said.
(Edited by N. Mbugua)
