Resource Type: Case Studies
Authors: Health Finance and Governance (HFG)
Published: 10/31/2015

Resource Description:

This case study is one of 14 case studies profiled in the Mobile Money for Health Case Study Compendium.

The Kenya National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) is the oldest government insurance scheme in Africa. As the primary provider of health insurance in Kenya its mandate is to provide access to quality and affordable health care for all Kenyans. NHIF membership is compulsory for all salaried employees. Premium contributions are calculated on a graduated scale based on income, and deducted automatically through payroll. Overall membership enrollment for formal and informal sector populations has reached 4.5 million people (11% of the Kenyan population). While coverage is high for the formal sector (98%), coverage of the informal sector which accounts for over 80% of Kenya’s workforce has proven to be more challenging, and remains low at 16% of the informal sector population. To facilitate timely remittance of member contributions and maintenance of up-to-date payment information for individual accounts, NHIF has partnered with Safaricom Limited to provide a flexible and convenient platform for remittance of monthly insurance premium contributions from informal sector populations.