The role of private health insurance in financing health care in Kenya

Abstract

Kenya has a pluralistic health system, with the government, private actors and donors involved in the financing and provision of health care. Since the late 1980s, the government has encouraged private investment in health care and there is now a large and diverse private health care delivery sector comprising for-profit and non-profit facilities. The growth of private provision has in turn created demand for private health insurance. Private health insurance cover is mainly purchased by higher-income employees in urban areas and only covered under 2% of the population in 2013 (Ministry of Health, 2014). It is beyond the financial reach of most of the population in a country plagued by poverty and income inequality, where access to affordable health care depends not just on the availability of funds but also on the availability of health workers and facilities. Until 2006, health insurers operated in an unregulated environment and there have been issues with fraud. The chapter begins with an overview of health financing policy in Kenya, then outlines the nature of the private health insurance market, the regulatory framework and barriers to market expansion.