Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) is not leaving any stone unturned in its quest to achieve universal target of community-based health insurance scheme, Mutuelle de Sante. From one campaign to another, right from previous managers of the scheme to the present, RSSB, that took over last year, efforts have yielded varying degrees of success but never the 100 per cent dream target. The latest drive to get all citizens on board has seen RSSB introduce yet another avenue through which subscribers can pay their annual premiums using mobile technology. RSSB has, entered a partnership with MobiCash, a mobile solution that subscribers to Mutuelle de Santé will start using to pay their premiums. This being a digital era, the adoption of technology has been long overdue and now comes to give a lot of relief to subscribers as the process will be simplified further due to the seamless subscription that technology offers. The beauty of the MobiCash facilitation is that one doesn’t necessarily need to own a phone as is with many mobile technological systems; it is just here to ease mode of payment. An easy means to pay encourages many who would otherwise keep hesitating or postponing doing the needful until it is too late. RSSB is also optimistic that the new system will be an effective way for insurance managers to track or identify whoever paid their premiums and under which social stratification (Ubudehe) category they belong to. Although RSSB has surpassed the subscription rate compared to the previous financial year, RSSB has showed that it will not rest on its laurels even with uptake hitting 84.2 per cent with two months to the closure of the subscription timeline. But having opened one window, the social security board will have to seek many other ways to bring everyone on board. For instance, a section of the public continues to complain that Mutuelle de Sante insurance is too limited to cover some of the ailments they might suffer from. It is easy to see where such people are coming from and it would be cardinal upon RSSB to dig in its racks and see how much access they can continue revising to bring more people on board. There should be a common ground between RSSB and the subscribers. The board should appreciate that not all who subscribe use their premiums in a given year. This way, the board can compensate with opening access to certain covers, after all not everyone would get the same ailment and go for the cover. The big point is giving all citizens a reason to take up health insurance. As RSSB revamps Mutuelle, subscribers should be more convinced than before.
