In what is likely to cause controversy among members, Bishop Paul Kariuki also warned the church is also considering turning down request for baptism for children whose parents are not registered with the health scheme.
The man of God urged faithful to be carrying the cards in a bid to drum up support for the government health coverage plan.
“Your child will not be baptised if you do not have NHIF card. How will you take care of the child if he or she falls sick? I will not talk about parents who are yet to register with with the scheme but I urge you before you receive Holy Communion, please carry your card with you. Even if you don’t go to hospital, that money will help someone,” he warned.
In 2017, Kariuki issued a decree barring politicians from using pulpits to woo voters. He also attempted to ban fund-raising activities inside churches by politicians, claiming the harambees were perpetuating corruption.
NHIF is among the top governmental corporations offering health insurance service to Kenyans who have attained the legal age of 18 and even those below 18 years as beneficiaries.
The corporation offers affordable and quality health insurance covers for Kenyans with a minimum monthly income of KSh 1,000.
NHIF was first established in 1967 under the ministry of health.
As Kenyans prepare to dig deeper in to your pockets to pay NHIF, they have expressed their dissatisfaction with this new policy and insisted that it remains totally unfair to charge them more for healthcare.
Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki revealed that the Government was planning to increase the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) contribution to 2% of gross salary to boost universal health coverage (UHC).
Universal health coverage (UHC) means that every person irrespective of where they live and their socioeconomic status has access to good quality health services without having to go through any financial hardship.
It is one of the bog four pillars of Uhuru Kenyatta’s government in his last term in office and government is putting extra effort to make it realistic and successful.