The rollout of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) has faced significant backlash from Kenyans, who criticize the government for failing to involve the public in establishing this new medical fund. The Council of Governors (COG) has echoed these concerns, accusing the national government of sidelining them in the program’s implementation.
During a COG quarterly meeting in Naivasha, Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, who chairs the COG health committee, pointed out that no counties have signed an Intergovernmental Participatory Agreement (IPA) with the implementation authority, despite most health facilities being county-run. He highlighted that numerous health facilities remain unregistered, raising alarms for patients.
Governor Njuki emphasized that patients with chronic illnesses are now at risk due to the cessation of coverage by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) as of September 30, 2024. He urged the treasury to increase funding to support the transition, which is facing numerous challenges, including a lack of devices for registering new members.
Public Health Principal Secretary Harry Kimutai reassured the governors that the government is working to procure an additional 65,000 devices for all public health facilities. He acknowledged that the registration process is experiencing initial difficulties and stated that the ministry is in discussions with various stakeholders, including COG, to address these issues.
Kimutai also informed patients with chronic conditions who were previously covered under NHIF that they would receive coverage under the new scheme. Additionally, he mentioned that the ministry would audit the Ksh 30 billion that NHIF allegedly owes to counties. He noted that Ksh 1 billion has been allocated to KEMSA for procuring critical medical supplies for counties.
Under the new SHIF scheme, patients will have three months to pay through a paybill number before transitioning to the eCitizen portal. Social Health Authority (SHA) CEO Elijah Wachira reported that despite the challenges, over 12.5 million people had registered within two days, and 9 million members had been transferred from NHIF to SHIF.
He termed the exercise as 85 percent successful while blaming slow registration process to the high turnout of Kenyans eager to join the new health scheme.
On her part, the Chair for the CEC health caucus Rosylene Omollo questioned the implementation and period and programme for the new scheme.
This was echoed by her Nandi counterpart Ruth Koech who said that counties were owed over Ksh.30B by the defunct NHIF and it was not clear how this would be resettled.
