NHIF casts net wider with 3 new schemes

Dar es Salaam. The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) is set to launch affordable health insurance schemes targeting private and informal sector beneficiaries in a bid to push for universal health coverage.

The launch of the new schemes is slated for tomorrow, whereby Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu is expected to be the guest of honour, according to NHIF statement released to media outlets yesterday.

Upon the launch of the new schemes, a single beneficiary from the informal sector will contribute less starting from a minimum Sh192,000 as membership fee, compared to Sh1.5 million (per individual) which was previously charged by the national health insurance firm for the informal sector players.

However, the new schemes, namely, Najali Afya, Wekeza Afya and Timiza Afya will not cover treatment costs for noncommunicable diseases and health conditions like cancer, hypertension, heart complications, kidney complications and diabetes, to mention but a few, The Citizen understands.

Also, the beneficiaries will have to dig deep into their pocket to cover costs for diagnostic services, particularly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CT scan in both private and public health facilities.

However, these changes will not affect the continuing NHIF beneficiaries, particularly in accessing medical care including the aforementioned services.

“Those who will join any of these three new schemes will not be able to access treatment for the chronic diseases and MRI and CT scan using NHIF card,” said an NHIF source who spoke to The Citizen over the telephone yesterday.

He added: “The aim of introducing the new schemes is to ensure that no one is left behind when it comes to accessing quality healthcare services.”

The membership fees for the new schemes vary depending on the type of scheme that beneficiaries might opt to join. For instance; Najali scheme, the membership fee stands at Sh192,000 per individual aged 18-35, while Wekeza (Sh384,000) and Timiza (Sh516,000).

For the beneficiaries aged 36-59, will have to contribute Sh240,000 per individual (Najali), Sh444, 000 (Wekeza) or Sh612,000 (Timiza). For beneficiaries aged 60 and above will have to contribute Sh360,000 per individual (Najali), Sh660,000 (Wekeza) or Sh984,000 (Timiza).

Furthermore, those beneficiaries with children or relatives will have to contribute more depending on the size of the family and their age.

This means, a family that consists of a head of household, spouse and two children will have to contribute Sh612,000 (Najali), Sh1,116,000 (Wekeza) or Sh1,536,000 (Timiza).

Moreover, NHIF public relations manager Angela Mziray told The Citizen yesterday that: “We consulted our stakeholders before coming up with the new schemes.”

The development is in line with the government’s efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) targets.

UHC means that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship, according to sources.