Meru residents aged above 65 years will receive free National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) cover which will be catered for by the County Government.
The Ksh.300 million NHIF cover was announced by Meru County Governor Kiraitu Murungi on April 21.
It is required by law for Kenyans enrolling for the NHIF programme to pay Ksh.500 every month to access medical services but Meru elderly will have it for free.
This Kiraitu said, forms part of the priorities the County has set to implement President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ‘Big Four’ Agenda.
“We have come up with this programme for providing medical covers for the elderly because is good for their health care needs since they are susceptible to seniority which comes with a myriad of health challenges,” said Kiraitu.
Kiraitu said the programme will reduce the heavy burden on families, due to high hospital bills, hence promoting well-being for all citizens.
The allocation is from the Ksh.1.6 billion the County received from the National Government to improve Meru Level 5 Hospital and a Cancer Centre.
The National Government has already released Ksh.6 billion to the NHIF for the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme, Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache said while in Kilifi County.
Mochache said that at least one million Kenyan families had already been registered for the programme since it started and that a further 220,000 would be registered this year as the state inches towards the target of four million families.
“Since the programme started, we have registered about one million poor families. This year, we are targeting to register 220,000 and because of this, the government set aside Ksh.6 billion which it has already released to the NHIF so that those registered can start getting the services,” said Mochache.
Kenyans enrolling for the NHIF programme are required to pay Ksh.500 every month to access medical services.
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani allocated Ksh.146.8 billion to the healthcare sector in the 2022/23 fiscal year budget out of which Ksh.62.3 billion is meant to cover UHC.
