Narok branch National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) office has called on all residents to take health care insurance irrespective of their income.
Speaking to KNA at his office, the Narok NHIF Registration and Compliance Senior Officer Philip Chirchir, encouraged especially the elderly to volunteer in large numbers as they will be covered by the Supa Cover that is funded by the government.
“Already we have about 22,000 people being funded by the government to access health services under the Supa Cover programme. We are still registering more people to benefit so we encourage all the elderly and vulnerable to visit our offices for registration,” he said.
After registration, he continued, the government is able to identify Kenyans who are poor and vulnerable, who cannot afford to cater for their health insurance, to be sponsored by the government.
He said his organization works with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the chiefs who help to identify beneficiaries of the Supa Cover programme.
The county branch has also commenced campaigns by holding public participation forums to inform the members of the public on their new products, he said.
“Everyone should be a member of NHIF as we move towards achieving Universal Health Care (UHC). The public should know how to register from the comfort of their phones by dialing *155# and register their spouse and dependents, the choice of facility and get to know how they can make contributions to NHIF,” said Chirchir.
We have different programmes to fit everyone, he said, pleading to all the members of the public to register as the system was digitized and easy to operate.
He informed that NHIF is aiming to register at least 80 per cent of the population countrywide by the end of the year, adding that the current amendment stipulates that everybody who is 18 years and above should be registered with NHIF.
“Dependents may also benefit from different covers as long as the parents keep updating their details. They should have a birth certificate and for older children between the age of 18 and 21, their identification numbers would be required,” he said.
By Lavera Ndanunga
