The National Hospital Insurance Fund, NHIF, has urged civil servants to jealously guard their limits for posterity.
The government employees, under the Comprehensive Insurance cover for Civil Servants, have been told to monitor their spending at medical facilities while avoiding high-end facilities for the cover to serve them best within the contract period of one year.
Speaking in Nyahururu, during a monitoring and evaluation exercise for the current contract, officer Doreen Kaburu regretted that most officers had drained their capped limits early in the year with nothing left to cover emergencies.
“The Fee for Service model demands that one monitors their expenses at the hospitals at all times. Make sure you sign and retain a copy of the invoice issued by the medical facility after getting the services,” noted Kaburu.
The employees were however cautioned against engaging in fraudulent activities, saying they risked prosecution and being suspended from the scheme.
“Annual check-up that is available at NHIF accredited facilities for the principal member and his or her spouse is meant to detect diseases at an early stage,” Kaburu said.
A representative of the State Department of Public Service Matilda Anyango said, “let it be your responsibility to know how your body is fairing through the checkup to avert complicated cases in future that may only demand palliative care.”
She encouraged the officers to disclose information on last expense dues that are available to them upon the death of a spouse, the principal member or their dependents, to avoid burdens upon their deaths.
The civil servants comprehensive medical scheme administered by the national insurer has since 2012 been offering civil servants medical financing at NHIF accredited facilities.
The current contract allows access to services including oncology, radiology, drug and substance abuse rehabilitation, test for organ donor and emergency air rescue among others.
The officers decried the limited capitation saying it had locked out many needy cases from further enjoying the cover, but were challenged to apply for ‘Excess of Loss’ fund through their respective Principal Secretaries to have their limits extended.
