The County Government of Murang’a is providing free medical care to 20,000 vulnerable households through the Kang’ataCare project. This project is aimed at ensuring all households have access to medical cover. Lack of regular medical checkups has continued to contribute to the spread of communicable infections in the County. To curb this, the County has called for mass biometric registration for the first cohort of medical cover beneficiaries from 21st February 2023 to 8th March 2023. Identification and selection of beneficiaries is done through a vetting process which ensures there is detailed verification of information of the selected persons. The beneficiaries don’t have to wait before the card is activated for use, once the registration and submission of the Kang’ata card is done, a patient can use it at any public hospital immediately.
On 24th October 2022, the County signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and established a partnership to offer needed support and advice on matters related to the medical cover. With the help of the NHIF, the County has also created awareness on why registering for the medical cover is important especially for Persons Living With Disability (PWDs) and sickly old aged people. The County has established a vetting committee comprised of sub-chief, area chief, a nyumba kumi representative and church leaders to identify applicants deserving the cover.
The Kang’ata medical cover provides comprehensive inpatient care in government and selected private facilities. The cover also provides Ksh 100,000 for burial expenses on a single claim of a principal member. To manage drug addiction, especially alcohol, the County through the cover offers free mental and alcohol addiction rehab services and checkups in selected facilities. For patients in urgent need of surgery and international medical services, the cover offers Ksh 500,000 to the card holder. In the next cohort, the County hopes to support more than 20,000 households.
