Nairobi — Uncertainty has emerged over the rollout of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) tomorrow following details on gaps in the Means Testing Instrument (MTI) in determining the annual premium contribution for informal sector households.
It emerged that the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) conducted a pilot project in eight counties in the informal sector populace to determine the 2.75 percent of income contribution.
The National Assembly Health Committee raised issues with the accuracy of the MTI system following revelations that a total sample size of 2000 Kenyans in the informal sector were subjected to the test across the eight counties.
"We conducted the Means Testing Instrument in eight counties and the data that we have is accurate and we assure you we will not have the same issues we are facing in the education sector," acting chairman Social Health Authority Abdi Mohammed.
Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa defended the system under the new national insurance fund saying they are tamper proof and will ultimately address issues that have faced access to affordable health care.
The MTI pilot project was conducted in Turkana, Tana River, Narok, Migori, Bungoma, Bomet, Kiambu and Nairobi which has so far encompassed 17 variables to determine the lowest and highest contribution in the informal sector households.
"The system and the structure are in place and we are ready for rollout. We may face some teething problems including the digitization and human personnel but we will crawl until we get there," she said.
Principal Secretary Medical Services Harry Kimutai indicated that the 2.75 percent contribution will be assessed based on the parameters which the household contributions among other variables.
"Once the contributor answers all questions during the application process then they will receive details on the amount they are supposed to pay annually to receive health service," said PS Kimutai.
Ministry of Health, Director General Patrick Amoth defended the accuracy of the MTI system explaining that the parameters and information data used to determine household contribution is reliable.
"We are confident on the accuracy level of the MTI system which we believe is 96 percent accurate. From where we stand the MTI we have conducted will not overestimate the premium of those in the poor households," said Amoth.
Concerns on MTI
Chuka Igambangombe MP Patrick Munene poked holes on the readiness of the rollout questioning the system preparedness especially on MTI system saying the rollout was marred with confusion.
"A roll out that is expected tomorrow should not be based on theory but clear examples on how the common mwananchi will pay the premiums and why are they being subjected to pay annual premiums?" Munene posed.
Ndhiwa MP Martin Owino insisted that the MTI process of determining informal household contribution was inaccurate based on the number of counties where the pilot project was conducted.
"When we distribute the sample size it appears to be 250 sample size per county. How can you have a sample size of 250 per county in a county like Bungoma which has 2 million people,"
"When scientific process is compromised then it means the whole thing will crumble. This sampling should have been done across all the 47 counties," he said.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The defunct National Health Insurance Fund Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elijah Wachira affirmed that the issues that have dogged the MTI system in the education funding model will not be the scenario in the rollout of SHIF.
"With this pilot went to improve the MTI using the 8 counties as the sample population to enhance the accuracy. We were able to identify the problems in the low-income bands like owning a cow in Githunguri is not the same as owning a cow in Narok,"
"Its not one variable that determines, we are using 17 variables and parameters in creating the different bandwidths'. The science behind this system is able to give household contributions on what Kenyans will pay,"Wachira said.
SHIF was rolled out on July 1, 2024 after the National Health Insurance Fund expired on June 30, 2024.
