Health scheme brings hope to Kabarole
Boost. Patients wait to be attended to at the female ward at Bukuku health centre IV in Kabarole District at the weekend. PHOTO BY FELIX BASIIME
What you need to know:
- However, Ms Tunga said the insurance scheme has helped her pay little money in advance but access quality health services.
- Ms Charity Turyagyenda, a resident of Nyabweya in Kasenda Sub-County, said the insurance scheme has helped her have a stable income since the expenditure on health services has drastically reduced.
Kabarole. As a way of ensuring a healthy community, Kitojo Integrated Development Association (KIDA) has introduced a locally tailored health insurance scheme that would see the rural community access quality health services at a low cost.
The health insurance scheme dubbed ‘KIDA Bataka twejanjabe’, started in Kitojo village, Rweihamba Town Council in Kabarole District in January.
The insurance scheme is under KIDA hospital, a private health facility.
How it works
The coordinator of KIDA Bataka Twejanjabe, Mr Robert Mugenyi, at the weekend explained that every member on the scheme pays a quarterly premium of Shs5, 000 that helps them access timely and affordable health care and an annual membership fee of Shs1,000.
“When a member is on the insurance scheme and he or she falls sick, they remit a co-payment of Shs2,000 for out-patients which is used to eliminate those who may want to abuse the system and Shs5,000 for every admission. They then receive full treatment even if the bill is more than that” Mugenyi explained.
He said for the operation costs, a member on the scheme pays a third of the required amount. The scheme has 1,654 members from 18 groups and operates from Kasenda, Ruteete and Kiyombya Sub-counties in Kabarole District.
Rev Ezra Musobozi, the founder of KIDA hospital, explained that the aim of the insurance scheme is to enable the rural community access quality and affordable health care at a low cost that would ordinarily be acquired expensively.
Ms Gorret Tunga, a teacher at Kumwenya Echo School in Kitojo village, said she used to spend a lot of money in exchange of health services which could force them sell their property.
“Accessing health services when you do not have money is really a great challenge because you cannot be admitted in the hospitals and be discharged without paying the bills,” she says.
However, Ms Tunga said the insurance scheme has helped her pay little money in advance but access quality health services.
Ms Charity Turyagyenda, a resident of Nyabweya in Kasenda Sub-County, said the insurance scheme has helped her have a stable income since the expenditure on health services has drastically reduced.
“The scheme has not only helped us on the costs of treatment but also on prevention because we are being sensitised on how we can avoid preventable diseases,” she said.
Background
KIDA, an NGO, opened a private hospital in a rural set up in 2011. This came after some mothers asked for health facilities to stop maternal mortality. Later, KIDA introduced a community health insurance after realising that people in the rural areas cannot afford to pay hospital bills at once.
