Challenges in provision of universal health care by the National Hospital Insurance Fund, Kenya

Abstract

There is precedent for moving Kenya towards Universal Health Care. The Kenyan Constitution states that every Kenyan has a right to quality and affordable health care, and recognizes the role of the government in removing barriers to access. This was recently affirmed in Sessional Paper No. 7 of 2012 on Universal Health Care. The Kenya government‘s commitment to providing health care for all of its citizens is clearly moving in the right direction. This study sought to find the challenges and solutions in provision of Universal Health Care. The data was collected from top management employees, members of staff, trustee and the secretariat of NHIF. The data collected was analysed using content analysis and the results presented in prose form. A combination of primary and secondary sources was used to collect data for the study. The study found that provision of universal health care has its challenges in Kenya which are shortage of government budgetary resources, weak health systems, high poverty levels, reaching vulnerable people, selecting the right package of benefits, integration of the informal sector, and misuse of resource. It was concluded that the government can use mechanisms to curb this challenges with include, increasing the efficiency of revenue collection, initiate schemes for informal sector, and the government should ensure broad coverage through health reforms in the whole country. The study concluded that universal health care is essential to all people in Kenya and this translates to the acceptance of the fact that the economically strong will have to pay more than the poor. Since the study was conducted in Kenya, it is recommended that similar studies be conducted in other NHIF organizations regionally to provide more information. It is also recommended that other studies on universal health care in Kenya be done to avail more information on the health situation in Kenya.