The Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) has eased the process of Mutuelle issuance by taking the registration services to as low as the cell level.

Under the new system, people can find their mutuelle cards at the cell offices where they are filled and taken to the health centres only for validation.

"The clients go to the cell to look up their names in the Ubudehe lists and to have cards filled for them. In case they cannot find their names, they see the local government officials of the cells who help them fill the necessary forms, which they take and bring them here for validation. After this, we feed their information into computers and book registers after which we issue their mutuelle cards,” explained Janvier  Mukahigiro the director of community based health insurance section at Muhima Health Center

According to Mariam Kaberuka, the director of mutuelle registration unit in RSSB, the system is already eradicating the problems of overcrowding at the health centres where many people would be in queues for many hours to get their health insurance cards.

Mukahigiro says the system will ease it all for the people since most of the work is done at the cells level. To her, the previous problems of long queues for mutuelle were due to the fact that citizens used to pay for Mutuelle wherever they wanted.

"This had led to the fact that all people had to come here at a certain health centre but now they have put that a client has to pay for mutuelle in a place where he or she is in the category of ubudehe. It was made easy for us. Then the clients can have their mutuelle.  All is done very fast,” she said adding that this new system, is ideal for people who have urgent cases like expectant mothers or others going for surgery since they need not to wait at the cells.

"It does not need them to go and wait at the cells. And when they come here we serve them first no matter what we have been doing,” she said.

"The reason we put up this program is that is that even if you pay today, we can be able to give you the validation service immediately. We have eradicated the former delays where a client would pay like today, and he would come back to fill the card after several weeks. But now when the client comes and pays, we validate their cards according to the time they have paid,” she said.

Julienne Mukabalisa the chairman of Buzima village in Muhima said the system is very good since it does not delay.

"Back in the day, they used to wake up 2 am in the night and have reached there at the center. Now  that the service has been brought to the cells, it has become simple and we shall also help them. No more confusion. They come here to identify the categories in which they fall, they pay and their cards processed and their photos fixed on cards,” she said.

Abdul Karim Mwambara, the chairman Nyiranuma village in Biryogo cell said he has confidence this program will solve all the issues having used it for students who were going back to school last week and it worked perfectly.

"Last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, this service worked perfectly as we solved the problem of the students who were going back to school. Their mutuelle de santé cards were processed and given to them in time.”