Some Kenyans want the National Health Insurance Fund to explore alternative premium payment plans.
This is contained in the latest report, ‘Afya nafuu for reduced inequalities in Kenya’, by Amnesty International and the Health Peoples Movement released on Wednesday.
The rapid situational analysis of the existing national health insurance plan in Kenya shows most Kenyans struggle to raise the mandatory monthly contribution of Sh500 to the scheme.
The study was conducted in the five counties of Garissa, Kilifi, Kisumu Tana River and Wajir.
It sought to evaluate the accomplishments, challenges, and missed opportunities of NHIF as the state corporation responsible for realizing affordable healthcare for the entire population.
It also sought to propose alternative measures to strengthen NHIF as a reliable health safety net for millions of people living in poverty and facing marginalization.
“In some counties where poverty levels were high and people could not afford the Sh500, the communities felt they were not involved in a process of coming up with a remittance structure,” AI country researcher Benta Moige said.
“In some of these communities, for example in Wajir, they said if the government could find a way to take their livestock, maybe they could take a cow to NHIF offices and then they would enrol them for the whole year."
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