MURANGA, Kenya, Jan 2 – About 20, 000 enlisted vulnerable families in Murang’a will from this month enjoy enhanced medical cover after receiving NHIF cards, courtesy of the county administration.
The devolved government commenced the exercise of issuing NHIF cards to the beneficiaries in Murang’a township ward, effective January 1st 2023.
During the exercise graced by the county governor Irungu Kang’ata, 350 families from the ward received their cards which will enable them access full treatment in any public health facility.
Kang’ata underscored the importance of the programme saying it will be milestone in assisting the less fortunate members of the society, access medical care with ease.
The enhanced NHIF medical cover, according to the governor, allows the beneficiaries to fully access a wider variety of medical care including optical and dental services.
The exercise of issuing the NHIF cards to the beneficiaries will run in all the local 35 wards within the course of the week.
“Some 20, 000 families have been initially selected after undergoing a thorough vetting exercise, which means with an average of five people in a family, the cover will end up benefitting at least 100, 000 people from the county.
“This medical scheme came into effect at the onset of the New Year and we urge those who have been issued with the cards to consider visiting public hospitals, since there will be no cost limit unlike in private facilities,” explained Kang’ata.
The governor noted that they have already paid Sh162 million to NHIF for actualization of the cover following the county assembly’s decision to pass a supplementary budget early last month.
“The money allocated in the programme dubbed, Kang’ata care is Sh170 million out of which Sh162 million was paid to NHIF, while the remaining balance catered for administration costs,” he disclosed.
Apart from catering for medical services, the cover also caters for the last expense for the principal member, spouse, children and parents of both parties.
“In the last expense, in case of death the principal member and spouse will be paid Sh100, 000, while children under 18 years and parents will be paid Sh50, 000,” said Kang’ata, adding that the programme comes at a time when many deprived families were struggling to cater for treatment of their loved ones.
Meanwhile, the governor has lauded digitization of revenue collection in the county, noting that the move had enabled the devolved unit to double its revenue during the past few months.
The governor said the digital method of revenue collection, which was being piloted in a few sectors will be rolled out in the entire county later this month.
Kang’ata further stated that 30 percent of revenue collected from public hospitals will be retained at the source to facilitate operations of the respective facilities.
“The retained revenue will ensure the hospitals don’t lack basic necessities to ensure our people get drugs among other key services, any time they seek medical attention,” he added.
