“Enroll More Private Hospitals Into NHIF” – World Bank

The World Bank has urged Kenya to enroll more private hospitals into the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) scheme and cover medicines to mitigate out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures which are pushing more Kenyans into poverty every awakening health emergency.

Despite the government’s efforts to improve financial protection from getting healthcare, OOP expenditures continue to make up a significant proportion of the total health spending, driving about 1 million individuals into poverty yearly.

“Although Kenya has removed user fees for public facilities, public hospitals still operate under the cost-sharing policy, and all levels of private health care facilities are still paid for through OOP payments,” said the World Bank in a new policy paper.

The multilateral lender said a recent study estimated that about 1 million to 1.1 million Kenyans fall into poverty yearly because of costs related to healthcare.

“To further reduce OOP expenditures in Kenya, it is critical to address the role of the private sector, such as through the inclusion of more health facilities under the NHIF arrangement and coverage of pharmaceuticals,” it added.

People affected by chronic conditions and the elderly are the worst hit by OOP expenditure which has continued to rise over the years despite increased healthcare budgets by the State.

“A large proportion of the sick population continues to lack healthcare due to the financial barriers, despite the implementation of financial protection policies, such as the Linda Mama, health insurance for the poor and elderly, free primary healthcare, and government efforts to increase prepayments through the NHIF,” the World Bank said.

“This is a concerning trend, as paying at the point of care for services or drugs creates financial barriers and exposes households to catastrophic health spending. Moreover, the unavailability of drugs at public health facilities continues to be a driver of OOP. Therefore, efforts to expand health insurance enrollment need to be accompanied by efforts to provide essential drugs at no costs to the poorest,”  it added.

The lender said that although the State recently announced more subsidized insurance for vulnerable groups, enrolment into the NHIF scheme has been slow, hence significant additional public resources will need to be injected to markedly increase the share of the population insured and provide needed subsidies.

Article By Sally Lizwa