Implemented in 2013 in Senegal, the Programme National de Bourses de Sécurité Familiale (PNBSF) is a national cash transfer programme for poor households. Besides reducing household poverty and encouraging children’s school attendance, an objective of the PNBSF is to expand health coverage by guaranteeing free enrolment in community- based health insurance (CBHI) schemes. In this paper, we provide the first assessment of the PNBSF free health insurance programme on health service utilisation and health- related financial protection.