Tag: National Health Insurance

Community Health Equity Fund Launched in Hopely as Nation Prepares for Insurance Scheme

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere and Edward Makuzva At a time when out of pocket health spending is high for many urban residents in Harare, the City of Harare on Wednesday officially launched the Community Health Equity Fund (CHEF) in Hopely. The launch at Tariro Clinic comes six years after President Emmerson Mnangagwa opened the facility. Officiating at the event, Health and Child Care Minister Dr. Douglas Mombeshora, in a speech read on his behalf by Policy and Planning Director Dr. Stephen Banda, said the CHEF is part of preparations for the…

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Zimbabwe Moves to Finalize National Health Insurance Bill Ahead of Parliament

Kuda Pembere
Minister of Health Dr. Douglas Mombeshora shares a light moment with Dr. Ron Mhizha of the Eye Institute and Chrispen Dzingirai of Old Mutual Zimbabwe during the launch of free cataract eye clinics.

By Kudakwashe Pembere Anticipating the enactment of the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme by year-end, efforts to finalize the NHI Bill are on course, with Health and Child Care Minister Dr. Douglas Mombeshora confirming it will be sent to Parliament this month. After decades of consultation and research, Zimbabwe’s proposed NHI scheme is now closer to fruition. Dr. Mombeshora told a Health Partners Coordination meeting on Friday that the much-awaited scheme will help pool resources for the health sector. We meet at a time when we are driving ambitious reforms…

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No New Taxes To Be Introduced Under National Health Insurance

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Funds for Zimbabwe’s soon-to-be-implemented National Health Insurance (NHI) will be drawn from existing taxes and various sectors to minimize the financial burden on citizens, a senior government health economist has revealed. The principles of Zimbabwe’s NHI Fund have been approved by the Cabinet. This fund will pool resources from multiple sources into a single account, which will then finance the essential health services package. Targeted funding sources include local authority contributions, earmarked levies, health bonds, the Assisted Medical Treatment Order (AMTO), state contributions, portions of the War…

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Health Minister To Present National Health Insurance Bill in parliament in July

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere The Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) is preparing to table the much anticipated National Health Insurance Bill in Parliament come July this year, HealthTimes has learnt. While in a previous interview with this publication, the Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora had promised the NHI would be rolled out by July this year, Zimbabweans may have to wait a bit longer as this is the time the NHI bill to govern the scheme’s operationalization may be presented to Parliament. So these are proposals…

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National Health Insurance ready by July

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora says the much-awaited and much-lobbied- for National Health Insurance (NHI) is expected to be rolled out in July this year. At a time where less than 10 percent of Zimbabweans have medical insurance, the Health Ministry have been mulling over this health insurance scheme for decades without ever materializing. In an interview, the Health Minister said the NHI is expected to be presented to Parliament anytime from now. I think quite a lot of work has been done and…

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Private Health Insurance (Medical Aid) and Huge Shortfalls in Zimbabwe: Policymakers playing ducks and drakes

Healthtimes

By: Enock Musungwini, MPH, MBA Introduction A shortfall is the difference between what a health service provider charges for a patient’s treatment and what the medical insurance company will pay for that service. Shortfalls are sometimes presented as a co-payment, which is the gap between what the Private Health Insurance (PHI) company or medical aid pays to the health service provider for service rendered to the patient and what the health service provider will have charged the patient, known as a tariff. According to Suriyawongpaisal et al. (2016), huge shortfalls…

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Medical Aid Coverage Drops Below 10 Percent

Healthtimes

MEDICAL Aid coverage among Zimbabweans as of last year must have dropped from the previous figure of 10 percent owing to the continued economic decline  greatly reducing citizens’ capacity to spend and invest towards their healthcare. By Kudakwashe Pembere The Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ) issued new pricing guidelines in November last year to cushion members against huge co-payments and shortfalls. The adjusted rates have prompted  members to either downgrade packages or drop health insurance completely. Responding to HealthTimes,  Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe chief executive officer…

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‘Nipping Corruption Key to NHI Scheme Fund’

Healthtimes

PARLIAMENTARIANS are worried over the custodianship of the impending National Health Insurance Scheme given the ill governance issues experienced through Premier Service Medical Aid Society and the National Social Security Association. By Kudakwashe Pembere During a health portfolio hearing for the Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ) on Tuesday, BINGA North MP Dubeko Prince Sibanda said it was important for the organisation representing about 30 medical insurance companies to guard against corruption  since they are pushing for inclusion in national health insurance consultations. With NSSA at one time being selected to handle…

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National Health Insurance Next Year

Healthtimes

HEALTH and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo has assured the nation that the  National Health Insurance Scheme will be up and running  by January next year. By Kudakwashe Pembere He told journalists on the sidelines of the World Health Day Commemorations on Friday that plans to realise Universal Health Coverage through this health scheme are well on course. “With universal health coverage we are looking at national health insurance. We have already started on the national health insurance scheme. Our plans are very well advanced now working together with…

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