Kenya: Health Ministry to Settle Sh20bn Medical Claims Before Sha Adoption

5 July 2024
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Wangechi Purity

Nairobi — The Health Ministry has pledged to ensure all outstanding remittances are settled before the end of the transition from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the new Social Health Authority (SHA).

Health Cabinet Secretary Suzan Nakhumicha revealed the fund owed medical claims of Sh20 billion and Sh9.3 billion to co-insurers, while the outstanding premiums owed to the fund were Sh28 billion as of June 31, 2024.

"As of May 31 2024 the Fund owed medical claims of Sh.20 Billion and Sh.9.3Billion to co-insurers. The outstanding premiums owed to the Fund were Sh.28 Billion. The Ministry of Health and the Authority have put in place measures to ensure the claims are settled before the end of the transition," stated CS Nakhumicha to the Senate Health Committee on the rollout of Universal Health Care (UHC).

CS Nakhumicha assured that the ministry will settle payments of unpaid National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) remittances to healthcare facilities as well as all the outstanding remittances before the transition period.

She affirmed that the Ministry is pursuing debt owed by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) through the National Treasury, stating that the Board has reduced administrative expenditures and skewed payments to the settlement of claims.

Additionally, in order to guarantee the seamless transfer of assets, liabilities, and resources to the Social Health Authority (SHA), the ministry has been undertaking claim verification and reconciliation to make sure that only legitimate claims are paid.

"Following the enactment of the SHA Act, 2023, a Transition Committee was gazetted on 26th January 2024. The Committee works with both the NHIF Board and SHA Board, and they developed a comprehensive work plan which included verification of assets and liabilities of NHIF," said Nakhumicha.

The full transition from the National Health Insurance Fund to SHA was slated to start on July 1, 2024, but the rollout team noted that the new system is not yet operational.

The Transition Committee, which was entrusted with easing the transition process, recommended that the NHIF continue while the SHA is introduced gradually because important elements needed to support the new health authority are still a work in progress.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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