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{
    "id": 1094336,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1094336/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 218,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Garissa Township, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Aden Duale",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to contribute to the Second Reading of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (Amendment) Bill of 2020. I had a chance to go through this Bill and from the face of it, the Bill narrates and seeks to amend the National Hospital Insurance Fund Act in order to enhance the mandate and the capacity of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and specifically to facilitate and deliver one of the legacies of President Uhuru Kenyatta, which is the universal health coverage. However, let me be very honest, I really do not like critiquing Government Bills because I had been moving Government Bills for a long time. A critical reading of the Bill reveals otherwise, contrary to promoting universal healthcare. Why do I say so? In fact, in my opinion, it inhibits the thing which it is trying to achieve which is universal healthcare coverage for every citizen of our country. Why do I say so? Article 43 of the Constitution provides that every person has the right to the highest attainable standard of healthcare. However, despite this constitutional provision, this Bill, in my view, is either not cognisant of that provision of the Constitution or the people who drafted it are not aware of the socio-economic terrain of our country. So, I will just pick on three clauses of the Amendment Bill. A case in point is Clause 17(e) which provides that a beneficiary who has a private health insurance cover shall first exhaust the private cover before accessing the NHIF. The question that I need to ask is how many of our people have private insurance covers? They are very few. It is a fact and every Member in this House knows that many of our people rely on public health facilities to access medical treatment. How will universal health coverage be achieved when this same Bill makes it a priority for persons with private insurance to use their cover first before accessing the NHIF? Should the NHIF not be the first cover to apply to cover basic and essential health package at public health facilities? The"
}