Residents of the four counties under the Universal Health Coverage pilot scheme have been warned against stopping their NHIF contributions.
MPs have told residents of Kisumu, Nyeri, Isiolo and Machakos that the free health services under UHC are only available in public hospitals and may not cover some health conditions.
Parliamentary Health committee chair Sabina Chege said that self-employed people must be encouraged to pay NHIF because some treatments will not be free even in public hospitals.
“The National Hospital Insurance Fund is mandatory for all people in formal employment,” Sabina said.
She said the NHIF card also allows holders to access services from private facilities and mission hospitals, which are not participating in the UHC pilot.
The services prioritised in the pilot phase include emergency, child health, maternal health, mental health, infectious disease management, non-communicable disease management, inpatient and outpatient and community health services.
“We expect that there will be an influx of people to hospitals and in case there’s congestion, then NHIF members have an alternative,” Chege said.
Hospitals in Machakos are reportedly getting more patients than they can handle. Patients at Athi River Level 3 Hospital yesterday were forced to leave after waiting for more than two hours without being attended to due to congestion.
There have been concerns that the residents of the four pilot counties would abandon their NHIF membership because of the promise of free services in public hospitals.
The 3.2 million residents are being registered and issued with a UHC card, known as Afya Card, which is separate from the NHIF membership card. Sabina said the committee would study the UHC policy when Parliament reopens in February, before it is forwarded to the House for approval.
In the programme launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta last week, registered residents of the four counties will get free services from public health facilities within those counties.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union warned that public health facilities in those regions will struggle with high numbers.
“Demand for services will go up by 50 per cent, so efforts must be made to improve the number and quality of health workers,” KMPDU secretary general Ouma Oluga said.
Oluga said the programme should be used to test viable public-private partnerships in providing health services.
During the launch, Kenyatta also said that the NHIF would play the central role in future. He directed that all publicly funded insurance pools be collapsed into one to avoid duplication of duties and waste of state funds.
Doctors supported the move. “So many counties that bought private schemes, parastatals and some civil servants must begin the discussion to merge them,” Oluga said.
The lessons learnt will inform countrywide scale-up. Uhuru said the programme will be anchored in primary healthcare.
Most of the funds will go into strengthening dispensaries and health centres. He said the counties will strengthenhealth systems.
The health sector is one of the Jubilee government’s Big Four agenda pillars.