Members of parliament have been asked to push for the National Health Insurance Scheme or else risk becoming the health insurance of their constituencies.
The call was made to social protection experts while interacting with Parliament members.
Parliament passed the National Health Insurance Scheme Bill in March 2021 but President Yoweri Museveni declined to assent to it due to disagreements among some stakeholders. Since then the government has remained mute on the matter.
During their meeting on social protection today, MPs were rallied by experts to push for enactment of the National Health Insurance law to protect themselves from financing medical bills of their constituents directly from the pocket.
Lawmakers acknowledged that they are overwhelmed by requests to bail out their constituents who get stuck with medical bills in different health facilities.
The Insurance Scheme intends to provide health care for all Ugandans at an affordable cost, but Ugandans in the formal and informal sectors make a financial contribution. The Bill provided that those employed in the formal sector contribute 4 percent of their salaries backed by a one percent contribution from their employers and those in the informal sector contribute 100,000 Shillings annually. Experts believe this is achievable provided the government resolves the impending issues.
However, legislators are still divided as some oppose the Health Insurance Scheme while others are green about it.
The Parliamentary Forum on Social Protection has advised community insurance as an alternative measure to mitigate gaps in the sector before robust insurance is implemented.
