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{
    "id": 1092154,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1092154/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 199,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Homa Bay CWR, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Gladys Wanga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 590,
        "legal_name": "Gladys Atieno Nyasuna",
        "slug": "gladys-atieno-nyasuna"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the National Hospital Insurance Fund (Amendment) Bill. The COVID-19 Pandemic has really exposed the failures and challenges of our health system. It has affected all of us, whether or not you can get the best healthcare in this country and abroad. First, it confined everybody to the country, so there was no moving out of the country to seek healthcare anywhere else. Secondly, if COVID-19 catches up with you in the heart of Homa Bay County, there would be no time to take you elsewhere. It has really exposed the need for us to strengthen our healthcare system, the failures of the current system and ways through which we can strengthen it. Despite the fact that the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, gives every Kenyan the right to the highest attainable standard of healthcare, it is still a far cry. It is a far dream and that is the reason we are amending the National Hospital Insurance Fund Act. It is meant ensure that every Kenyan above the age of 18 years is a member of the NHIF compulsorily. It should be supported. Compulsory health insurance is an idea whose time has come. Like the French Poet, Victor Hugo said, there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. From the perspective of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, we deal with matters of insurance and how secure Kenyans' money is within the insurance sector. As we look at the NHIF becoming a compulsory fund and everyone putting their money there, we must also think about the NHIF possibly becoming a victim of its growth and success. When we make it compulsory, the amount of money that will go into the NHIF as far as contributions are concerned will be humongous. I am sure when the Departmental Committee on Health was doing a review of this Bill, they probably looked into just how much the NHIF will grow as soon as the Bill is passed. What mechanisms are we putting in place to ensure that Kenyans' funds are secure within the NHIF structure? There is an age-old principle in insurance of risk-spreading. This Bill must take into consideration the principle of risk-spreading. We must look at ways through which the NHIF can The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}