Kakamega county government has partnered with African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) to enlist vulnerable households under the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) scheme.
Area governor Wycliffe Oparanya, who met the AMREF delegation said his administration launched the registration exercise in 2019 to map out possible beneficiaries of the scheme to promote Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
He disclosed that the county spent over Sh50 million in NHIF premiums for 8,840 poor old residents.
The county head said the survey is intended for capturing the deserving persons for the sake of budgeting and the programme would be implemented in phases.
“Under the arrangement, the beneficiaries are paid for the full monthly premiums for the year (Sh. 6,000) and then the ratio becomes 50:50 in the subsequent years,” he stated.
He added that in the county budget estimates for the financial year 2020-2021, they have allocated Sh. 57 million to support programmes targeting the poor.
Apart from AMREF and NHIF, the other partner in the initiative is i-Push (Innovative Partnership for Universal and Sustainable Healthcare).
By Sammy Mwibanda
