4.2.14. Respondents about collaboration with mutual health
insurance
Table 11: Collaboration
with mutual health insurance
|
Collaboration
|
Number of respondents
|
Percentage (%)
|
|
Very good
|
3
|
22
|
|
Good
|
9
|
64
|
|
Poor
|
2
|
14
|
|
Very poor
|
0
|
0
|
|
Total
|
14
|
100
|
Source: Primary data 2012
From the table above, 9 respondents which represent 64% of the
whole shows that the collaboration between beneficiaries and mutual health
insurance provider was good, 3 respondents which represent 22%, shows that the
collaboration with MHI provider was very good, while 2 respondents which
represent 14% claim that their collaboration with this institution was poor and
the point of very poor collaboration was selected by any respondent. The
general implication from the information given above is that the collaboration
was generally good since at least 86% of the whole respondents argued that
their collaboration with health institution provider was good.
4.2.15. Specific problems that beneficiaries of mutual health
insurance face
According to MINISANTE 2004:7, some problems were pointed out.
Those are:
i. Non-covering of health service costs due to low level of
risk sharing between sick beneficiaries and health beneficiaries.
ii. Poor quality of health services provided by some health
centre to the beneficiaries.
iii. Benevolent nature of membership of mutual health
insurance.
iv. Inadequate management capacities of some mutual health
insurance contributions by mutual health committees.
v. Over-utilization of the services by beneficiaries who
solicit healthcare services.
vi. Premiums are fixed, not according to the real costs of
healthcare, but the contributing capacity of the beneficiaries.
vii. Some among beneficiaries suffer the wrong stage or class
and do not contribute accordingly.
From the above problems that beneficiaries of MHI face for it
to be resolved three parties should be involved. These parties are the
government, NGOs and the general public. The government intervenes in providing
different facilities and policies formulation to empower this domain of health.
Such policies could be the perfection of risk sharing policy/mechanism among
sick beneficiaries and healthy beneficiaries; improving healthcare services
through for example the provision of workshop of concerned staffs to resolve
the current problems, encouraging a good management of MHI's contribution
comparing to the real costs of healthcare services with the contributing
capacity of the beneficiaries.
The understanding of beneficiaries on MHI scheme should be
also prevailed. For instance the beneficiaries should be warned and informed
about the relationship between how big or small number of family member and the
costs of healthcare bills which is the sum contributed for the whole family let
it be small or big.
4.2.16. Solutions to problems that beneficiaries of mutual
health insurance face
Solutions have been proposed after it was noticed that there
are problems that beneficiaries from mutual health insurance policy are facing
for them to get better health services. For instance:
i. The investment in new ventures of a share of mutual
health's contribution for purposes of making profits for supporting
beneficiaries' contributions in future time.
ii. More health centres have to be built in order to avoid
overpopulation in one health centre and long distance walked by the
beneficiaries of mutual health insurance.
iii. Some beneficiaries' mindset about mutual health insurance
should be changed for the beneficiaries profiting from effective risks sharing
among those who are suck and those who are healthy.
iv. Beneficiaries' contribution capacity should be raised
through community works given to those who cannot easily get the contribution
per year.
v. The management of these mutual health contributions should
be efficacy and timely controlled to avoid its losses as well as the
misuses.
vi. The role of partners in support for mutual health is to be
pointed in creating initiatives on coverage of vulnerable groups, for them to
get mutual health insurance.
As stressed by Dr. Sekabaraga and quoted in chapter two (page
27-28) an official in charge of planning in the MOH, 90% of Rwandans'
countrywide have joined health insurance. If the above solutions were to be
effectively implemented, all Rwandans who do not have the access to any other
health insurance such as RAMA and MMI could be motivated to join this MHI
schemes because it is the cheapest compared to others and operates in all
government health centres countrywide like Ruganda sector.
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