Who Should Pay for your Expensive Treatments?..?
By Christopher Kalumba
Profession: Public Health Scientist
Student in: Master of Business Administration in Health Care Management (MBAHCM)
In the next 10/15 years no one should die because he/she failed to pay for the treatments….. Her story is the reflection of what is happening to many cancer patients in Zambia and even just other patients with other conditions…(those we have not seen on social media)…
This is a lesson that many have died because they never afforded to pay for the cost of treatment and many are going through such situations…. asking questions like (who will pay for their expensive treatment beyond their means..?) The question is …..Who will pay for such expensive treatment ….? Who should pay …? Who must pay. .?
Obviously few can afford to pay for such expensive treatment but they should not die for failure to pay for treatments…NO ONE SHOULD DIE FOR FAILURE TO PAY FOR TREATMENTS….Who must pay for you then ….? You don’t have to sell your land/house/car/ or any property just for you to pay for your treatments …You don’t even have to use your School fees, no one should go through financial hardship ….Then Who Must Pay for your treatments ..? National Health Insurance Scheme is an act of Parliament and it is existing to pay for health services for those who can’t afford…This means that, no one should go through financial hardship to pay for their treatments. The other aim of this scheme is to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) …
This also means that, regardless of your Social Economic Status you have to access treatments for free without financial hardship…. National Health Insurance Management Authority(NHIMA) collects money from all government workers and money is put into a basket….. Actually money is already deducted before they get their salaries…. So that when need arises like her situation and for many patients we have not seen on Social Media then money is gotten from that basket and used to pay for such expensive treatments. … The question we need to ask NHIMA is 1. Have they not collected enough money to start responding to such situations. …? If not 2. When are they going to start responding to such situations. .? 3. What are the steps to follow in receiving free treatments from NHIMA…? Share the information to the public by using all platforms and in all our 7 languages …. In conclusion we need Transparency and Accountability from National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA)
