The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) has issued a new requirement for all secondary school students seeking to access treatment at accredited institutions.
Under the initiative began by President Uhuru Kenyatta for free medical cover for secondary school students, they will only be required to produce a letter from their principal.
The new measure has been introduced following complaints that some hospitals were sending away students after they failed to produce NHIF cards to access treatment.
"We cannot deny students treatment just because they do not have NHIF cards.
[caption caption="NHIF CEO Geoffrey Mwangi"]
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"We have allowed all school heads to write an introduction letter to the facilities," CEO Geoffrey Mwangi explained on Thursday.
The CEO further explained that the principals would also be required to select the nearest public or private hospitals to their schools for students to be accessing health care.
The schools will also be required to put up a functional clinic within their compound for emergencies and minor ailments.
NHIF held a stakeholders conference with the management of 625 medical providers in the country where the issues were raised.
Mr Mwangi explained that the facilities had been selected and instructed to accept letters from the school heads to treat students.
The programme kicked off a few months after schools re-opened in January 2018 following delays caused by consultations between the Ministry of Education and NHIF.
[caption caption="File image of the NHIF building"]
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