The Social Health Authority set to be established under the proposed Social Health Insurance Bill, 2023 will require the current employees of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to reapply for jobs.
The six decade-old State agency is set to split into three as part of planned reforms to make it more effective.
The Bill stipulates that the new Social Health Authority, responsible for managing three funds: primary healthcare, healthcare, and emergency, chronic, and critical illness, will absorb NHIF workers based on merit through a competitive recruitment process.
The NHIF Board shall wind up the Fund within one year from the appointed day and the cash balances and all other assets shall be transferred to the social health Authority.
“The Board of the Social Health Authority established under section 4 of the Act shall competitively recruit and appoint its staff under section 17 of the Act subject to the approved staff establishment and on such terms and conditions of service as may be determined by the Board,” reads the Bill.
The Fund’s staff are eligible to apply for the positions advertised by the Authority and may be considered for appointment where they are suitably qualified for the positions advertised.
“A staff of the Fund not appointed by the Authority may exercise his or her option to either, retire from public service, or be redeployed within the public service, “reads the miscellaneous part of the bill.
“The Board may appoint such staff as may be necessary for the proper discharge of the functions of the Authority under this Act, upon such terms and conditions of service as the Board may determine.”
The proposed legislation, the Social Health Insurance Bill, 2023, aims to replace the National Hospital Insurance Fund and achieve universal health care (UHC), according to President William Ruto’s government.
NHIF currently has a workforce of around 1800. The new authority does not have a clear guideline stipulating what staffing levels will be used, should the bill be accented into law.
The proposal is likely to cause a stir in this workforce as the agency has existed for six decades. It is this same fund that more than 15.4 million of Kenyans rely on for healthcare, as of June in the previous fiscal year.
The bill comes at a time when NHIF has been in the spotlight with allegations of staff-driven fraud and many members who rely on the fund complaining of delays in the authorization of payments to hospitals, forcing them to pay for medical bills out of pocket.
