The Ministry of Medical Services has reported that low-cost health insurance schemes lack the capacity to cover members of the informal sector. The Ministry stated that the cost of medical services outweigh the contributions of the policy holders.
Minister for Health, Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o said that in spite of their subsidized service fees, public hospitals lack sufficient grants from the Treasury to cater for the more affordable healthcare packages. He said that Kenyans could not expect substantial healthcare if their contributions were as little as KES 320 a month.
Low-cost insurers like Bima Ya Jamii and Salama Sure charge KES 300 and KES 200 a month respectively. Their covers are based on benefits given by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Speaking during a Medical Cover Workshop in Nairobi, Prof Nyongo noted that NHIF currently lacks the financial resources to cover the 700,000 low-cost policy holders. He said that the public health sector owes more than KES 1 billion in unpaid user fees.
According to the Ministry, the government is currently working on financial systems in public hospitals across the country in a bid to make the system more effective. The Ministry has also appointed new Board members to help resolve the crisis.