Determinants of uptake of National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) membership among motorcycle riders in Kakamega County
Date
2018
Authors
Mose, Cliff A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
Health insurance is important in mitigating the financial 1isks associated with getting ill illness is associated with loss of productivity as one recuperates and loss of resources that are spent on paying for health care. Prolonged illness may also lead to loss of a means of livelihood if one is incapacitated for one reason or another. Health insurance thus plays a big role in offering financial risk protection and reduces risk of impoverishment due to catastrophic health expenditure arising from sickness or accidents. There is a great push towards prepayments for healthcare. Health insurance being a form of prepayment that needs a lot more support from government as a regulator and as a custodian of social welfare. Use of motorcycle for transport is a phenomenon that is quite prominent in rural and urban Kenya because of its convenience and affordability. Motorcycle industry employs a big number of youths and adults who earn a living by provide transport for both people and goods. The industry has been plagued by a great number of motorcycle accidents leading to a great strain in our health sector through long periods of treatment and congestion of the orthopedic wards in all major hospitals in the country. The many accidents on our roads are a pointer that motorcycle riding is a high-risk tmdertaking. This coupled with the blatant abuse of the Highway Code by motorists puts many riders in a precarious position everyday as the search for a living. The study sought to tmderstand the reasons behind the low enrolment into NHIF our most prominent insurer who provide an affordable and attractive enhance package that we believe would help mitigate the risks faced. The study setting is in Kakamega central sub county where a total of 140 boda boda riders were interviewed. A cross-sectional survey study setup was chosen and systematic sampling done. The data collection tool used was a semi structured questionnaire that data was cleaned and coded for analysis using STAT A version 15. In the findings there was 50 % enrolment in the scheme by the boda boda rider. The study recommends enhancing NHIF forums to improve information and awareness, review of penalties for missed premium contributions, quality improvement programs as well as overall health system strengthening through transformation of NHIF into a social insurance to help Kenya achieve UHC
Description
A dissertation in partial fulfilment of the requirements of degree of Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management at Strathmore University Nairobi, Kenya.