The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) was established under Cap 255 of the Laws of Kenya in 1966 as a department in the Ministry of Health to provide health insurance exclusively for those in the formal employment. In 1972 an amendment was made to allow for membership for those in the infor… read moremal employment. The Fund was then transformed into a state corporation through an Act of parliament, NHIF Act No. 9 of 1998. The Fund’s core mandate is to provide social medical insurance cover to all its members and their declared dependents (spouse and children). The Fund’s vision is “A world class universal social insurer”. This is achieved through its mission, ‘To contribute towards Universal Health Coverage through provision of affordable, accessible, sustainable and quality health insurance’. The Fund has registered 7.3 million principal contributors to date which has grown membership to about 22 million members who include contributors’ dependants. NHIF’s membership is open to all Kenyans who have attained the age of 18 years and have a monthly income of more than Kes. 1,000.