12,500 Vulnerable Households Put On Medical Insurance Scheme
Updated on: Nov 18, 2020
The county is paying medical insurance cover for a total of 12,500 poor households from all over the county.
Of this, 4,500 of the group will get NHIF cards paid for a whole year by the government. Issuance of the cards has already begun with representatives from every home first receiving a notification message after the government paid for their premiums.
An additional 8,000 households will provide partial payment for a period of between three to six months depending on their level of vulnerability based on the data from the M-Jali.
Laikipia County is data driven in making decisions and policies. The county also makes good use of evolving technology. It is through the combination of the two that Laikipia used the M-Jali mobile APP to collect social economic data on people to come up with a list of the neediest in the county and help them access uninterrupted Medicare.
Categorization of the two groups was on the basis of personal possessions and availability of vital the basic needs from the M-Jali data.
Each family revealed whether they own property and of what worth, whether they resided on a rental or own house, ability to pay for various bills, and access to water. The results were fed to the app which brought the two distinct categories.
The 4, 5000 were found to be in dire need of aid while the 8,000 had a potential to pay but needed a boost.
Enrolling and carefully registering the selected group takes time and efforts. First the con-tact person in each family is sent a message indicating the place and time officers will be conducting the exercise. A call the follows from the community health workers on the ground to confirm that all is set for the date.
The area chiefs, MCAs and health workers avails themselves to confirm that the needy are the ones who benefit and not one takes advantage.
The county government targets to ensure that every Laikipian has an insurance cover in a bid to achieve universal health coverage. Medical services are expensive when a person does not have a health cover.
