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{
    "id": 1094399,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1094399/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 281,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Makueni, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Daniel Maanzo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2197,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Kitonga Maanzo",
        "slug": "daniel-kitonga-maanzo"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this very important debate. Health is everything. If there is no good health, the nation really suffers. A healthy population ensures that we have a working nation. When people fall sick, the biggest challenge they face is paying hospital bills. In fact, Members of Parliament have become the insurance for many Kenyans. Many times you will have to fundraise to pay hospital bills. Sometimes Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) waives the bills when the management is satisfied that the person is really stuck. Many times bodies are stuck in the morgue because bills have not been paid. It is very frustrating. Many times, somebody passes away, leaving behind a big hospital bill. You cannot even get the paperwork done with National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and if they finally do it, the amount of money that is given is so small. It does not help the family. This is what has necessitated the amendment to the NHIF Act. I am planning to introduce a lot of amendments during the Committee of the whole House to make sure that this Bill fits what it was supposed to be from its public participation. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, people are not looking for a fund as it is today. They are looking forward to a social welfare scheme that will take care of everyone despite their class of living. The best example of this sort of fund is in Thailand. I thought the Ministry had benchmarked with Thailand and would give us something really palatable. Unfortunately, as it is now, it is still unclear. It is still being called National Health Insurance Fund. We are still using the word “Fund yet if you go to the definition, where the Bill is being introduced, you find a different story. Other than the Fund, it captures the aspirations of Kenyans in the Memorandum of Objects. You can see that it is described in the Memorandum of Objects as “A Bill to amend the National Hospital Insurance Fund Act of 1998 to establish the National Health Scheme…” So, we should now be talking of a scheme and not a fund. The Memorandum of Objects continues to read: “…to enhance the mandate and the capacity of the National Hospital Insurance Fund and to facilitate and deliver the universal health coverage.” Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the concept of a fund has given us trouble. I am sure the Leader of the Majority Party, who is an expert in this area, will expound on this when we bring amendments. We need to improve it to introduce a social aspect to it so that communities can insure even as a group. You can have a group insurance for people, cooperatives and chamas so that people can embrace this concept and donate so that when people, unfortunately, fall ill and go to hospital, they can be taken care of. You can see what has happened with the COVID-19 situation. Today I fundraised for two people from Makueni who recovered from COVID-19 but are stuck in private hospitals because that is where they could find a bed and oxygen when things were so bad and you could not find these things in a normal hospital. That kind of situation gives us a challenge. What happens is an emergency situation? What happens when people find themselves in that situation? The COVID- 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."
}