By Debra Rono
The nominee for Health Cabinet Secretary, Debra Mlongo Barasa, emphasized the challenges faced during the transition from National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), citing lack of proper community engagement as a key issue
In response to a query from Nyeri MP Hon. Wachira, Rahab Mukami, Debra stressed the importance of full engagement with Kenyans and considering their feedback.
“We need to engage them (Kenyans) they need to own and understand it, we need to embrace and have community feedback and work on it to see how we can intervene…One of the challenges regarding SHIF is that the community was not involved…we need to engage them to understand at he vision of SHIF,” explained the health CS Nominee.
CS Nominee Debra Mlongo highlighted the necessity of prioritizing dialogue among stakeholders, including the county government and its partners, to ensure the successful implementation of the shift.
“The dialogue is really critical while we are looking to transfer patients”, added Debra
In 2023, the government proposed legislation aimed at overhauling Kenya’s healthcare system to enhance affordability through the SHIF initiative.
The system was designed to promote equity and accessibility in healthcare by including all citizens, particularly those previously excluded by the NHIF.
Under the SHIF framework, all employees will be required to contribute 2.75% of their earnings to the fund. The government will subsidize contributions for residents who are unable to pay.
Additionally, self-employed or unemployed individuals who previously contributed KSh 500 monthly to the NHIF will be required to pay KSh 300, adjusted according to their financial capacity.
Nevertheless, the government has decided to postpone the transition to SHIF until October 1, 2024, due to difficulties encountered with the digital platform for contributions and registrations.
In July the high court judge bench, comprising of Justices Alfred Mabeya, Robert Limo, and Fridah Mugambi, declared the SHIF unconstitutional due to the absence of public participation.
Nevertheless, the bench later postponed its decision for 45 days to give the government time to revise the act within 120 days.
The judges clarified that the suspension of their ruling does not impact the Act, as it remains unconstitutional.