The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) has increased main contributors from 6.8 million to 7.7 million. Citizens from the informal sector were most new members in the 13 percent increment.
The insurer has further increased its payout in the year 2017/18 to Sh37.2 billion from the previous Sh26.4 billion in 2016/17.
The data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) revealed that the higher disbursement tallied with the total number of health facilities served by NHIF.
The facilities that total to 10,820 in 2018 increased from 9,017 facilities in the previous year.
This growth comes when NHIF is undergoing reforms that are expected to strengthen its capability to deliver Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
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The scheme was last year excluded from handling the Sh3.1 billion allocated for the UHC piloted in Machakos, Kisumu, Nyeri and Isiolo counties.
Health Cabinet secretary Sicily Kariuki said NHIF was not able to grow its membership beyond a certain capacity, which would have hindered the start of the universal health scheme this year.
