The use of health insurance membership cards: is misuse of cards being addressed among community health fund and national health insurance fund" members in Iringa rural district?

Abstract

A number of health care financing strategies have been adopted in Tanzania to address the problem of insufficient financial resources and seeking to correct inefficiencies in the health care delivery system, in order to make it more cost effective, and able to provide better quality services. As providers in developing countries increasingly charge user fees, community have felt the need to plan for the future costs of health care which led to emergence of prepayment schemes Community Health Fund (CHF) and National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). A cross sectional study was conducted to explore the use of CHF and NHIF membership cards among members and to establish how misuse of cards is addressed by providers of health care. Study groups consisted of head of households, health providers and CHF and NHIF members visited health facilities. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were used to collect the required data. Data was analyzed using Epi info 6 version, where appropriate associations and strength of relationship between independent and dependent variables were obtained using the appropriate stastistical test, were needed.