FACTORS AFFECTING THE UPTAKE OF PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE: A SURVEY OF JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS
Gichuru Kuria Samuel - Masters Student, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Dr. Willy Muturi - Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Prof. Nelson Wawire - Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
The Government expenditure on health has continually declined against increasing population and rising cases of costly diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The main objective of the study is to investigate the factors influencing the uptake of private health insurance in Kenya. The specific objectives are: to determine the effect of awareness of health insurance packages on uptake of private health insurance; to find out the extent to which income affects the uptake of private health insurance in Kenya; to determine how the clients’ attitude affect the uptake of private health insurance in Kenya; and to determine how government policies influence the uptake of private health insurance in Kenya. This was a descriptive survey study aimed at investigating the factors influencing the uptake of private health insurance in Kenya. From the table above, the study grouped the target population into 13 strata i.e. cohorts1-13. From each stratum the study selected 10% of its target population by simple random sampling to select a total of 61 respondents. From the findings, the study concludes that awareness of health insurance packages affects the uptake of private health insurance. The study concludes that income affects the uptake of private health insurance. Insurance participation with symmetric information, which predicts that a household’s willingness to pay for an insurance contract increases if the household is more risk averse. The study concludes that government policies influence the uptake of private health insurance. The study recommends that the government, the Insurance Regulatory Authority and the insurance industry in Kenya should start a nation-wide campaign to inform and educate the general public about private health insurance in Kenya and counter the negative attitude towards private health insurance.
