Nairobi — President William Ruto has vowed to speed up the much needed National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) reforms, so that Kenyans from all cadres can benefit from the fund.

President Ruto, in his Mashujaa Day address on Thursday, said he is committed in making the fund all-inclusive so that all Kenyans from all walks of life can enroll.

The President noted that about a million Kenyans fall into poverty every year due to healthcare costs, and hence the need to expedite the reforms.

"The challenge is NHIF is an occupational scheme tailored for salaried people on payroll in the private and public sector and not the social insurance scheme it ought to be. We shall change the contribution structure from an individual contributory scheme to a household contributory model," the President stated.

The Head of State underscored the importance of community health workers as part of measures to scale up universal health coverage, and committed to mainstreaming their role in the health sector.

"We will mainstream the community health workers and make them the foundation of our health system," he said.

He also expressed his commitment to motivating health care workers by addressing their grievances, and employing more health workers.

"I want to assure our health workers across the board that we have listened to them and we will propose ways in collaboration with country governments on how to resolve all the outstanding issues," he stated.

During campaigns, the President made a commitment to reform NHIF by recalibrating contributions so that those with higher earnings pay more.

He said those without an income will have their bit settled by the government, so as to ensure that every Kenyan accesses affordable and quality care.

He said that NHIF contributions will be pegged on the monthly pay of workers, in a bid to increase the funding pool for the scheme.