Health Financing Functions in Community Based Health Insurance Schemes and Health Equity in Kenya

The aim of this study was to establish how the healthcare financing functions are modeled within CBHIs and how they have impacted on realization of health equity with government stewardship being treated as the moderating factor. The study adopted descriptive and explanatory research designs to collect data from four members each management team of all registered CBHIs in Kenya. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, path analysis and multivariate regression analysis in terms of structural modeling equation (SEM) were conducted to determine the hypothesized relationships between the health financing functions and their impact on health equity in Kenya. The study shows that enrolment and strategic purchasing in CBHIs accounted for variation in health equity in terms of increasing access to quality healthcare services. With the introduction of government stewardship as the moderating factor, the variation of health equity accounted for by enrolment and strategic purchasing increased. It was therefore inferred that the government should define the place of CBHIs within the context of the national health financing policy for realization of health equity by instituting the necessary legal and regulatory framework.