At a speech on Thursday, February 16, the County manager mentioned that he was getting ready to introduce the first face of medical insurance in association with the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
According to Sakaja, the county would shell out Ksh8,600, which will give 232,000 families access to medical care.
“I have been keenly observing what has been happening in other counties and especially in Murang’a and as Nairobi County, we will soon start registering the 232,000 poor families which will benefit from this cover,” stated Sakaja.
He added that the program, which seeks to provide access to medical care for those from low-income households, will provide inpatient, outpatient, dental, and optical treatments.
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Sakaja’s initiative, on the other hand, will provide families with up to Ksh100,000 in last-minute expenses. The governor added that 50 households from each polling place would make up the qualified families in the initial phase.
Murang’a is one of the first counties to implement such a program, dubbed Kang’ata care which began in November of last year and covers 20,000 vulnerable households in the county.
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The announcement came barely days after Sakaja was criticized by Nairobi County doctors for failing to provide comprehensive National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) coverage. Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union (KMPDU) downed their tools as they held demonstrations at Cityhall.
President William Ruto pledged to accelerate the greatly needed National Health Insurance Fund reforms so that Kenyans from all sectors can benefit from the fund.
Ruto criticized the Jubilee administration for breaking its pledge to implement the UHC, stressing that he will make it a reality under the Kenya Kwanza administration.
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