Mobile payment platform supports increase in health care access in Kenya

According to the World Health Organization, more than half the world’s population cannot access essential health services due to cost. For those who can afford to pay, approximately 800 million spend at least 10 percent of their household budget on health expenses for themselves or family members.

In Kenya, a country of nearly 50 million people, nearly half of all health expenditures are paid out-of-pocket. Thus, assurance of payments is critical to the stability of the health system, the solvency of providers, and the financial well-being of health goods and services recipients.

Kenya has a mobile health wallet called M-TIBA, and today more than 7 percent of the population are registered users. Launched in 2015, M-TIBA is a health-specific mobile payment platform. It is not an app; rather, M-TIBA works directly over a mobile phone account.

Read the article by Michael Seo and learn how M-TIBA encourages health care savings, reduces paperwork and claim approval times, and is scaling to help many more Kenyans enroll digitally in universal health coverage.

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