NHIF contributions for low income earners to drop to Ksh.300 starting July

Speaking during the Labour Day celebrations at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi on Monday, President Ruto stated that there needs to be an equitable contribution mechanism to the health cover provider and Kenyans will start contributing as per their earnings.

"I pay Ksh.1,700 every month and mama mboga pays 500 to get an NHIF card. My salary is Ksh.1 million and mama mboga earns Ksh.5,000. We have changed the contribution formula and those who were paying Ksh.500 will now pay Ksh.300 starting July," he said. 

Other than this cadre, the Head of State noted that Kenyans will begin contributing 2.7% of their earnings to NHIF.

"And I who was paying Ksh.1000 will pay Ksh.27,500 and others in the middle will pay according to their salaries so that everyone of us contributes 2.7% of their earning to NHIF and we carry this load of health equally."

Emphasizing his commitment to provide better health services to Kenyans, President Ruto noted that many Kenyans sink into poverty over medical bills and the cover will hugely aid in curbing the setback.

At the same time, President Ruto added that the government will introduce a volunteer programme targeting to have 100,000 community health promoters who will aid in delivering health services to Kenyans at the bottom of the pyramid.

The volunteers, Ruto said, will be remunerated by the county government and the state on a 50-50 basis.

"In every 100 families will have one community health promoter whereby in every month they will visit every family and we will give them equipments to check pressure, weight to deal with diseases at early stages," he said.

"We will agree with them on how we will remunerate these health promoters. And we will share 50-50. Every county that contributes whatever money we will match it."

Currently, voluntary and self-employed persons contribute Ksh.500 per month, while those in the formal sector contribute between Ksh.1500 and Ksh.1,700 every month, depending on their salary scale.