Thursday, November 12, 2020 – Health Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe, has said the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) will not cover the hospital bills of Covid -19 patients.
In a virtual meeting with the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, Kagwe said NHIF is not financially viable to carry the burden of COVID-19 patients, which are more than 60, 000 by Wednesday.
“The cost burden of financing Covid-19 testing and treatment for NHIF beneficiaries both in the National Scheme and the Enhanced Medical Schemes would not be financially viable since it was not envisaged in the current NHIF premiums computation and the existing benefits package,” Kagwe told the Senate.
The CS pointed out that pandemics and epidemics are exclusions in health insurance due to their nature in terms of “cost and risk modelling with the uncertainties, beneficiary access and claims reimbursements, scope definition and treatment/care plans.”
“NHIF would not have a financial obligation under globally recognized best practices, or its present model of operation, to finance the testing or hospitalizations related to this or other epidemics/pandemics,” Kagwe said.
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