I have been going through the National Health Insurance Bill, 2012 which proposes to deduct 4% from civil servants salary towards the national health insurance scheme and I have a few observations. 1. Which hospitals will be providing the health services for those covered under the scheme? What would be the limitations of cost of services one would be entitled too? 2. What happens to citizens who are not civil servants or are generally not covered under the scheme (considering that one member will only be entitled to register up to 4 dependants under one scheme)? Is this the start of govt abandoning the already ailing local health centre network across the country? 3. What happens to members savings when they do not use the services over a certain period of time? Our civil servants earn very little pay to be subjected to further compulsory deductions for the public good without clear personal benefits considering that the same funds will be at the mercy of thieving politicians & technocrats who by the way conduct their business with utter impunity. We have experience that whenever a certain section of the population gets a viable alternative like we have seen in public & private schools in education, there is a tendency of government abandoning its responsibility to provide quality service for the rest of the population. Save that in this case, we are talking about life. The scheme is noble but should not be treated as a panacea for better health services. It is the rights-centered approach that can solve most of the service provision challenges facing the sector. That is why we have the Uganda Patients Rights Charter which is gathering dust on a certain drawer somewhere. Above all, such a scheme should strictly be designed to be pro-members and not be turned into some form of direct tax aimed at funding the health sector. - Christine Naturinda Édmûñd G. Àmàttà Mugenzi Katia Lucky Pearl Musinguzi Goodluck Dalton Espial Kaweesa Adolph Kugonza Isingoma Peter Muleyi Edward Meya Rogers Maya
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 12:02:25 +0000
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