Govt mulls Mutuelle de Santé review to improve access to medicines

A review of the community-based health insurance scheme, better known as Mutuelle de Santé, is under consideration in order to address issues of underfunding and to enable subscribers to buy medicines from private pharmacies, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Yusuf Murangwa, has said. The minister said this on Thursday, December 19, while addressing the general assembly of the National Consultative Forum of Political Organisations (NFPO) in a discussion about the second National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), a five-year development plan ending in 2029. ALSO READ: Mutuelle de Sante: Government to start paying health centres in advance Improvement of the community-based health insurance services, which used by more than 90 per cent Rwandans, is among targets of the NST2 in its pillar of social transformation. “We are considering ways to reform Mutuelle [de Santé],” Murangwa said, pointing out that the exercise would require everyone’s participation. “It’s very important that we think through the whole strategy of Mutuelle de Santé, and we will be coming forward to all members and all Rwandans to see what we need to do together,” he said. The scheme review could lead to an increase in the average contribution to the scheme in response to the rise in the cost of healthcare. Frank Habineza, the chairman of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, said that Mutuelle de Santé subscribers should get access to drugs in pharmacies paid with the insurance as it is done for other schemes. “It would be commendable to see a Mutuelle de Santé member get medicine from pharmacies wherever they are,” Habineza said. ALSO READ: Kidney transplants now covered under Mutuelle de Santé – RSSB Subscribers to the community-based health insurance scheme, which is managed by the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB), pay minimum of Rwf3,000 per person annually. The amount was set more than 10 years ago. Contributions from the members remain low, yet prices of healthcare and drugs have significantly increased, Murangwa said, adding that the living conditions of Rwandans had also improved. The number health services covered by the scheme has increased, the minister said, citing kidney transplants, heart surgeries, and knee replacement services.

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Govt mulls Mutuelle de Santé review to improve access to medicines