The Ministry of Health has now reported that SHIF is in Great Financial Crisis as millions of Kenyans are not contributing. Although SHIF took the role of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in October of last year, the government has said that it has encountered many difficulties, the reason behind the delay in processing patient payments.
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Health Cabinet Secretary speaks
On Wednesday, February 12, Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah and Director General of Health Dr. Patrick Amoth told reporters at Afya House that only 3.3 million Kenyans are making contributions to the national system, out of the 19 million Kenyans who are registered.
“Health services are expensive, and we cannot only have those in formal employment bearing the burden of the rest of the Kenyan population,” Dr Amoth said.
“We appeal to everybody who was registered to ensure that they go through the means testing process, generate their premium, and actually commit to paying that premium,” he added.
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Ministry of Health’s initial expectations
The Ministry of Health had predicted that the new model will raise almost Ksh133 billion annually, compared to the Ksh78.8 billion collected by the NHIF in 2023, though it is unknown how much SHIF has gotten from deductions thus far.
This is because all Kenyan households are required by law to pay 2.75 percent of their income for health insurance.
However, private healthcare facilities have already reported financial difficulties as a result of delayed or lower-than-expected payments from SHIF, indicating that the paucity of finances is already present.
More than half of the institutions received less than Ksh100,000 from SHIF, according to a survey conducted by the Rural and Urban Private Hospitals Association. This amount is insufficient to meet payroll and operating costs.
Concerns have also been raised by Kenyans that the SHIF benefits do not match the higher contributions.
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