Kenya Health Financing System Assessment, 2018: Time to Pick the Best Path

Over recent years, the Government of Kenya has implemented policies that reduce the burden of out-of-pocket costs for poor and vulnerable households, push forward health sector reform that enhances access to health insurance, improve the flow of funds to counties as the main stewards of primary and secondary care, and increase overall health spending to meet goals for Kenya’s Vision 2030 agenda. The underlying fiscal basis of increased and more efficient health spending exists, as does the potential to raise health insurance coverage. However, harmonization of all the policies in progress and in design is needed. Kenya can benefit from the level of innovation in service delivery, digital financial services, and the diverse capabilities of the private sector. Health financing policies that enable this will increasingly be needed to help pick the best path forward. These are the conclusions of the Kenya Health Financing System Assessment 2018, which examines diverse trends in public financing of healthcare as well as the maturity of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). NHIF is expected to be the backbone of expanded insurance coverage and an eventual consolidated single payer. The report offers in-depth views on: (1) impact of devolution on health financing trends and prospects; (2) the evolution of  NHIF and the expansion path for higher coverage; (3) expanding role of the private sector in service provision; (4) and transition and innovations in domestic resource mobilization and use in health, especially for vertical programs. It offers potential pathways and phases in Kenya’s overall path to universal health coverage.

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