Government outlines plan to rescue ailing NHIF

Dar es Salaam/Dom. The government yesterday outlined measures that will help rescue  the ailing Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), which faces imminent  collapse.
The measures include finalisation of  enactment of the Universal Health Insurance (UHI).
Other measures are increasing public awareness on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), strengthening Information Communication Technology (ICT) and plugging loopholes that attracted cheating and fraud by service providers, NHIF officials and beneficiaries.
Health minister  Ummy Mwalimu unveiled the government’s measures during a live broadcast press conference held at the country’s capital of Dodoma.
The government’s revelations comes two days after the ministers admission that the fund was cash-strapped triggering collapse fears if immediate measures were not taken to pull it from the brink.
The minister made the statement at the opening of a five-day regional cholera readiness capacity-building seminar here.
“Our health insurance fund may collapse as it is overwhelmed by a sharp rise in claims related to noncombustible diseases,” she said.

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But, yesterday, Ms Mwalimu said the government was in final stages of tabling the UHI Bill in Parliament in order to find lasting solutions to challenges facing NHIF.
“The fund’s viability depends on the presence of a large number of members. Globally, contribution from the healthy population benefits the sick in the community,” she said.
“I’m the minister of Health, not the minister for the sick. Therefore, I’m not ready to see the fund collapsing,” she added.
She said the UHI Act will come up with the amount of contribution that will be affordable by ordinary citizens, noting that nobody will be arraigned for not joining the fund.
She hinted that the ministry has proposed that citizens seeking essential services like the National Identification (Nida), passport, driving license, SIM Card to have mandatory requirement to have insurance cover .
“The National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) research findings has found that 85 percent of Tanzanians who participated in the study are ready to join the fund if there will be required to pay reasonable contributions,” he said.
Ms Mwalimu, who doubles as Tanga Urban Constituency legislator,  said procedures were afoot to ensure farmers make contributions through crops trading.
According to her, the government will scale up public education on NCDs in order to significantly reduce the burden through changes in lifestyle.
“The changes should include feeding habits by reducing sugar, salt and oil intake, preventing tobacco and alcohol use as well as engaging in regular physical exercises,” she said.
Also, she directed the docket’s Permanent Secretary (PS) and NHIF to strengthen ICT use in healthcare service delivery in order to prevent fraud,which threatens the collapse of fund.
“NHIF officials are also implicated in colluding with service providers. They inflate treatment bills for personal gain, therefore, you should probe among yourselves and plug the loopholes,” she instructed.
Furthermore, Ms Mwalimu provided details of how NDCs threatened sustainability of the fund, hinting the amount spent by the fund for cancer increased from Sh9 billion in 2015/16 to Sh22.5 billion between  2020 and 2022. According to her, NHIF also spent Sh9.5 billion for treating patients with kidney diseases in 2015/16, which is up from Sh35.44 billion recorded in 2021/22.
Furthermore, she said while the country had 380 kidney patients in 2014-16, the number adversely increased to 2,099 between 2021/22.
“Treatment charges paid for patients with cardiovascular diseases increased from Sh500 million in 2015/16 to Sh4.33 billion in 2021/22,” she said.
“The costs of Computed Tomography (CT) Scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests have climbed from Sh5.43 billion in 2015/16 to Sh10.89 billion in 2021/22,” she said.
However, the minister said the increase in costs and number of patients does not go in line with the increase in the number of NHIF members.
During the event, Ms Mwalimu said the funds actuarial evaluation also unveiled that there was a staggering trend of downward referral.
“Patients are attended in higher hospitals like the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH). But, they are later referred to lower hospitals where they are attended by the same physicians and under the previous medical examinations,” she claimed.
But, yesterday, the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT) President, Dr Shadrack Mwaibambe, said in a quick rejoinder that the government has been airing such claims without evidence.
“There are patients who don’t want congestion and therefore decide to visit polyclinics. Let us look on reasons for them to choose the polyclinics and improve infrastructure of public hospitals,” he said.