Yasiin Mugerwa
10 September 2008
All salaried workers will with effect from July next year be required to pay for the new National Social Health Insurance Scheme, the government announced yesterday.
Health Minister Stephen Mallinga told the Parliamentary Committee on Government Assurances that although the mandatory health scheme will start in July 2009, the new Bill before the Solicitor General's chambers will be presented to Parliament in December this year.
"We have already set July 2009 for the new social health insurance scheme," Mr Mallinga said. "There is no turning back on this scheme and we hope by December this year, the Bill will be presented here in Parliament for debate."
The Committee heard that once the scheme starts, each employee will contribute 4 per cent of their gross salary and the employers will top-up another 4 per cent, making a total of 8 per cent.
The government used to impose levies on patients at public health facilities through a cost-sharing scheme, which President Museveni abolished in 1996.
The committee chaired by Kyaddondo South MP, Issa Kikungwe also heard that the health ministry has been carrying out consultations with various stakeholders including private sector participants, government organs as well as the National Social Security Fund to market the new programme.
Under the government's initial proposals, the compulsory health scheme would start with employees in the formal sector and extend to cover informal sector workers after 15 years.
But workers and trade unionists have vowed to reject the scheme, saying it is an additional cost.
Defending the proposal, Dr Mallinga told the committee that with increasing cases of new diseases, having a health insurance scheme will ensure that Ugandans can afford the cost of health care delivery in the country.
Committee members expressed concern that the scheme might turn predatory on the meagre earnings of employees as they have already paid heavily through NSSF monthly contributions.
But Dr Robert Basaza, the Senior Health Planner in the Ministry, told the committee that there will be a pool fund within the ministry similar to NSSF, where all funds will be remitted.
"We are going to enrol this scheme in a phased manner just like Rwanda and Ghana did," Mr Basaza said. "We want to do away with the issue of patients paying cash, we want them to go to health facilities with a mere paper and still get treated."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
