The conversation on the National Health Insurance Scheme is not yet over. It still remains a subject that everyone should be interested in for the advantages it carries.
IRA’s CEO Alhaj Kaddunabbi Ibrahim Lubega spared some time and responded to some of the important questions on this subject.
What is health insurance all about?
Health Insurance involves a contractual agreement between the insurer and the insured person where the insurer undertakes to pay the medical costs of the insured in the event of accidents, sickness in exchange for a premium. The insurance company would then contract different service providers ranging from Hospitals, clinics, pharmacies from where the insured persons can access medical services. Only insurance companies and Health Membership Organizations licensed by the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda do provide health insurance services in Uganda.
In terms of enrolment, what is the status of health insurance in Uganda?
Health insurance is currently the fastest growing class of insurance business in Uganda. It has gained appeal for most corporate organizations over the years. It is a strong bargaining tool for employers and has proven to increase staff productivity. The uptake of health insurance is less than 1% in Uganda.
Why do we need a National Health Insurance Scheme as a country?
We all appreciate that access to quality health care remains a big challenge for many Ugandans, especially in rural area and the urban poor.
Many Ugandans are struggling with high out-of-pocket health expenditures, which have forced some people to sell their properties to pay for healthcare. This was very much pronounced during COVID-19 where relatives of people who contracted the virus had to sell off assets to pay hospital bills and this has contributed greatly to keeping people in poverty.
There are also instances where some people have lost lives because they cannot afford the huge out-of-pocket healthcare bill.
The National Health Insurance scheme is thus a health financing system designed to pool funds to provide access to quality affordable personal health services for all Ugandans based on their health needs.
The major aim for this National Health Insurance Scheme is to protect Ugandans from unexpected and high medical costs by giving them an opportunity to pay affordable premiums and get treatment when they need it.
It has been a long time since the idea of a National Health Insurance Scheme was proposed. As the sector regulator, what needs to be done to make this conclusive?
First of all, we commend the government for the move to establish the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) that seeks to provide affordable health care to all Ugandans. There is no doubt that access to affordable health care is one of the most important components of social security.
As the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda, we would like to stress that for the NHIS to be effective, we should ensure that professionalism, technical design, affordability for the common person, total transparency and sustainability through reduced administration costs are taken into consideration while implementing it. Once this is done, the scheme will be ready for rollout.
As a regulator, we are ready to partner with government to ensure effective implementation and supervision of this scheme to support it to achieve the intended purpose.
How can the National Health Insurance Scheme be implemented to ensure that all the citizens are covered?
It has been proposed that membership to the NHIS is mandatory for all members of the population and contributions shall be made directly or indirectly which shall boost coverage.
Also, sensitization/awareness campaigns shall be undertaken to enlighten the populace on the existence of the NHIS once its operationalized.
The shortage in the health sector personnel is one of the major challenges that Uganda is facing and this scheme comes with a large patient population. How can this situation be handled?
It is expected that health care professionals from both the public and private sector shall offer services under the NHIS after accreditation of the different facilities, which shall indeed address the issue of shortage of personnel.
Is our health infrastructure able to handle the demands for services that may arise as a result of this scheme?
Yes. Both public and private health care providers shall be accredited to provide services under the NHIS scheme, which in effect is expected to address issue of increased service utilization under the scheme.