The government has pledged to settle all outstanding remittances 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 Kes 20 billion and Kes 9.3 billion to co-insurers.
Speaking to the Senate Health Committee on the rollout of Universal Health Care (UHC) she also revealed Kes' 28 billion outstanding premiums owed to the fund as of June 31, 2024.
“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.
Further, she assured that the ministry will settle payments of unpaid NHIF remittances to healthcare facilities as well as all the outstanding remittances before the transition period.
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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.
Nevertheless, she said the ministry has been undertaking claim verification and reconciliation to make sure that only legitimate claims are paid to guarantee the seamless transfer of assets, liabilities, and resources to the SHA.
“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.”
The full transition from the National Health Insurance Fund to SHA was slated to start on July 1, 2024.
However, the rollout team noted that the new system is not yet operational.
