NHIF members will get emergency ambulance evacuation services in a new deal signed between the Red Cross Society and the State insurer.
The ambulances will be available to members who need emergency medical treatment from their homes or in road accidents.
National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) chief executive Geoffrey Mwangi on Wednesday said it would cost Sh490 million every year to provide the service through Red Cross’ subsidiary, Eplus Limited.
It is not yet clear how many ambulances are at disposal to cater for the growing number of NHIF beneficiaries across the country.
Official data shows that NHIF membership grew by 15.1 per cent last year and crossed the six million mark on the back of a campaign that recruited new members from the informal sector.
Members will not be required to pay any additional fees to get the service.
This means the monthly Sh500 that NHIF members in the informal sector have been contributing to the scheme remains the same.
Emergency air rescue is currently only available to civil servants spread across the country in partnership with AMREF Flying Doctors – for transportation and transfer of injured beneficiaries to health facilities.
The AMREF Sh875-per-family air rescue package includes two evacuation flights per year per member and two ground ambulance transfers per year within Kenya for civil servants.
This costs NHIF roughly Sh218 million per year payable to AMREF.
The new enhanced benefits will see other NHIF members get only the road evacuation services offered by Kenya Red Cross Society, at Sh30 per month per member (Sh360 per year).