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{
    "id": 977392,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/977392/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 150,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13129,
        "legal_name": "Isaac Maigua Mwaura",
        "slug": "isaac-mwaura"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, another key observation that we have made, as a Committee, is with regard to the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). It is quite interesting to note that out of the Kshs38 billion that is allocated to the NHIF, 14 per cent is spent on their operations. This should have been limited according to International Best Practice of 5 per cent. But curiously so, that Kshs22 billion out of the Kshs38 is going to private hospitals; Kshs8billion to faith-based hospitals and another Kshs7 billion to Government hospitals. In terms of the distribution of hospitals, Government hospitals are 48 per cent; private ones are 38 per cent and the rest are Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs). This needs to be relooked at. Is this a question of collusion on inflation of Bills, so that it is then easy to access NHIF money? You will remember very well the case of the Nairobi Women’s Hospital, which is in the public domain. We finance private entities, yet if these monies were allocated rightfully so to public hospitals, it would be another way of refinancing health. This is because then there is available insurance that would target the poorest of the masses. Obviously, when people get sick, the first port of call is the public hospital. It was curious to us that there was a demand to create a private hospital at the national referral hospital. These kind of things need to be relooked at, because if Universal Healthcare Coverage is to succeed, then some of these practices need to be put in question. This is over and above the legal reforms that are required at the NHIF, so that there is a robust regulatory framework around it. Madam Temporary Speaker, another key issue that has come out clearly is that we have done international declarations that we are not adhering to. A case in point is in Agriculture. If you look at the resource envelope for agriculture, it is about Kshs105 billion, but then, the allocation is about Kshs51 billion. However, the Maputo Declaration requires that it should be at 10 per cent of our budget. Therefore, this is a budget with a proposed ceiling of about Kshs2.8 trillion, then we are expecting a resource envelope of up to Kshs280 billion, especially if there is value addition in that regard. Therefore, even the projection of the Ministry itself to cap it at Kshs105 billion is an underestimation. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}