Entrance to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- Acting KNH chief executive officer Bernard Githae directed that unregistered pregnant women visiting the hospital should first be referred to NHIF offices for immediate registration before receiving free services.
- The new directive, Dr Githae said, is meant to ensure that Kenyatta Hospital gets reimbursement from NHIF.
Pregnant mothers who fail to register with the National Hospital
Insurance Fund (NHIF) will miss free maternity services at Kenyatta
National Hospital (KNH).
In an internal memo copied to
all staff of the national referral hospital, acting KNH chief executive
officer Bernard Githae directed that unregistered pregnant women
visiting the hospital should first be referred to NHIF offices for
immediate registration before receiving free services.
The new directive, Dr Githae said, is meant to ensure that Kenyatta Hospital gets reimbursement from NHIF.
“The
free maternity services that have been in operation since June 2013
have now been transferred to NHIF under Linda Mama Programme. Mothers
who need to benefit from this programme should be registered with NHIF.
Those mothers that are currently not NHIF members should be referred to
NHIF offices for instant registration through a mobile phone platform
provided by NHIF,” said Dr Githae in the statement.
“This
is therefore to instruct all service providers to render maternity
services to mothers who are duly registered with NHIF for purposes of
reimbursements. Mothers who refuse to register for NHIF should be asked
to pay cash for maternity services. This takes effect immediately.”
The
free maternity programme was first unveiled by President Uhuru Kenyatta
in October 2016 to encourage women to seek maternity services before
and after delivery, as one of the ways of bringing down maternal
mortality in Kenya.
The Linda Mama, Boresha Jamii
Programme is a free NHIF cover that meets all the maternity expenses.
Pregnant mothers registered under the programme have access to
antenatal, delivery, postnatal care and one-year child care in all
NHIF-accredited facilities.
The
government pays an annual premium of Sh6,000 per mother. Mothers can
opt to make Sh500 monthly contribution to benefit from a comprehensive
cover.
NHIF chief executive officer Geoffrey Mwangi, in
an interview Tuesday, said the Linda Mama maternity scheme requires
expectant mothers to register before giving birth to provide various
details including the preferred facility for giving birth.
The information is supposed to help the national insurer to reimburse the hospitals.
“This
service comes at no cost but pregnant women need to register with NHIF
to benefit from it. This is a requirement for any mother giving birth or
seeking post-natal care at NHIF-accredited facilities, which include
all government hospitals, faith-based and some private hospitals,” said
Mr Mwangi.
The
Jubilee government introduced free maternity services in June 2013.
Before then, an estimated 60 per cent of women were delivering at home —
attributable to financial constraints due to high medical costs out of
reach for the poor.
This resulted in 6,000 deaths of mothers every year on account of preventable complications during pregnancy or at child birth.
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