Published by the government of Zimbabwe
31 July 2008
Harare — THE National Social Security Authority has revived plans to launch the National Health Insurance Scheme it shelved after immense criticism by Parliament and the public last year.
NSSA general manager Mr James Matiza said the authority was now finalising its consultative process and capacity building measures, which would build on previous research on the scheme before it is introduced.
"Following the repositioning of the authority two months ago, we are now able to move ahead with National Health Insurance Scheme and all the other projects that we had shelved.
The authority had not thrown away the health insurance scheme, but had put it on hold because of its financial position and the need for further consultation on the impact of the scheme.
"It is also crucial to note that a majority of the people are in the informal sector hence are out of private medical aid schemes. As a result, they cannot afford medical fees demanded by most hospitals and medical institutions.
"NSSA's problems were compounded by inflation but with the recent political developments in the country, the economy is likely to respond positively hence the need for the authority to resuscitate all our programmes," he said.
Mr Matiza said with the review of the insurable pension, the authority was now in a position to finalise the implementation of the health insurance scheme as its cash flow was expected to improve in the next few months.
He said it was crucial that NSSA moves ahead with the health scheme as most people could no longer afford medical fees.
Under the proposed scheme, workers will be required to contribute funds to NSSA after which they would access medical services from any hospital without paying cash up front.
The scheme will also enable the Government to redress inequities in health coverage, improve quality of health care and would introduce greater transparency in the financing of health care in the country.
Although a noble idea, workers have remained sceptical about it, saying NSSA should first work on improving other schemes under its ambit.
Mr Matiza said the scheme was likely to be implemented in stages until all people, including the unemployed and those in the informal sector, were covered.
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