Students Benefit From Edu-Afya Medical Program By Government.
Since its inception three years ago, many other students have benefited from the Edu Afya package.
President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Sh4.05 billion NHIF comprehensive medical cover for students in public secondary schools in April 2018.
The government is paying a premium of Sh1,350 per student through the cover dubbed ‘Edu- Afya,’ targeting three million students in public secondary schools to fulfill the Big Four Agenda – provision of affordable health care.
The Edu-Afya package was launched to allow students to access quality health services and thus alleviate the burden on their parents and guardians, which has been accomplished.
As a result, the Ministry of Education signed an agreement with NHIF to provide medical insurance to all public secondary school students for the duration of their studies.
Some of these critically ill students would not have been able to afford treatment due to the high cost of treatment, but they were able to do so thanks to the government-sponsored Edu Afya package.
The medical coverage is available to any student enrolled in a public secondary school that is registered with NHIF via the National Education Management Information System (Nemis) database.
Since its inception, Edu Afya has protected parents from the high cost of healthcare services, allowing affected students to remain in school.
EduAfya cover was created to provide students with access to quality healthcare services close to their school and to relieve the burden on their parents and guardians.
NHIF has improved system integration to ensure bulk registration and exits of registered students to ensure seamless access to services.
The Nemis database has been integrated with the NHIF systems so that once a learner is fully registered on Nemis, the NHIF system automatically registers the learner.
This ensures that eligible students have access to services after registering with the Nemis database at school.
Students have benefited from standard inpatient and outpatient benefits packages, which account for more than 80% of total medical claims for the scheme, with major surgery accounting for 9% of total utilisation in the current year.
For student members, the scheme provides comprehensive outpatient and inpatient medical treatment both within the country and abroad.
Furthermore, the policy includes road and air evacuation, dental, optical, and specialized services, group personal accident, group life, and last expense coverage.
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However, there is little understanding of Edu-Afya and what it can do for secondary school students throughout the country.
What remains to be done is to ensure that all teachers, students, and parents are fully aware of the Edu-Afya package, which is critical to protecting parents from catastrophic medical bills, which is a critical issue for Kenya’s goal of achieving universal healthcare coverage.
Students Benefit From Edu-Afya Medical Program By Government.