More than half of the members of National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) will be locked out of healthcare services following government directive requiring the use of Huduma Namba cards as the single source of truth for all government services.
NHIF says that out of its 13 million principal members and their 26 million dependents, only 5.6 million have been issued with Huduma Namba.
Many Kenyans from low-income households primarily depend on NHIF membership to access health services, highlighting the exposure of those without the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) cards, commonly referred to as Huduma Namba cards.
“Making NIIMS authenticator at the first instance of functional data will restrict access to quality and timely healthcare to beneficiaries and may ultimately hinder the realization of UHC… Out of the 11.6 million Huduma Namba cards printed, only 5.6 million are NHIF members with their cards printed.” NHIF told parliament.
All Kenyans above the age of 18 must have their foundational data – including full name, date of birth, place of birth, gender, photograph, biometric data, and nationality captured in the NIIMS database.
According to the government, only 7.3 million out of 10.5 million people have collected their Huduma Namba cards but the current national identity cards should be withdrawn in the next few months.
There are also 3.2 million applicants who have not picked their cards after politics derailed the government’s plan to roll out the second phase of registration for those who did not enroll in the first phase.
Government rolled out the mass distribution of the huduma namba cards in 2019 in attempts to register citizens on the e-platform.
Right now, NHIF is lobbying the Parliament to amend Clause 9 of the Huduma Namba Bill and delete the words “at the first instance” to save millions of its members from being denied access to healthcare services.
The National Assembly on Administration and National Security supported the NHIF’s proposal in its report which will soon be debated in the House.
“Making NIIMS authenticator at the first instance of functional data will restrict access to quality and timely services,” the committee report reads.
The Bill was introduced after the High Court declared the biometric ID scheme illegal and ordered that it be made compatible with new data protection laws.
The ruling prompted a raft of changes to the Huduma Namba Bill, 2021 that was tabled in Parliament in December.
The State is now pushing NHIF to provide affordable and quality healthcare to all Kenyans under a remodeled Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scheme for outpatient and inpatient services.
Membership to NHIF will became compulsory in January, with every Kenyan adult required to pay Sh500 per month or Sh6,000 annually.
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