Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa has called for public participation in the validation of the new Social Health Insurance benefits package.
The validation exercise will take place on Friday, August 30, at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.
“Having undertaken public participation and stakeholder engagement and incorporated feedback from the Public and Stakeholders, the Cabinet Secretary and the Board of the Social Health Authority shall hold a National Validation Exercise on the Tariffs to the Benefit Package,” a notice by Barasa reads.
“We therefore invite all stakeholders and members of the public to participate in the National Validation exercise, scheduled for Friday, August 30, 2024, at KICC, as from 9 am.”
The new benefits package was developed by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, in consultation with the Social Health Authority Board.
The Social Health Insurance Act No. 16 of 2023 was enacted on October 19, 2023, is set to replace the National Health Insurance Fund.
The government rolled out mass registration of Kenyans to the Social Health Insurance Fund on July 1, 2024.
According to the Chairman of the Social Health Authority, Timothy Olweny, as of August 14, slightly over 500,000 Kenyans had registered.
He said that the Fund will address NHIF’s shortcomings.
Olweny said the Act will provide additional services that were not covered by NHIF.
“We will be better than NHIF. The transition is going to be very smooth,” he told the Star.
Preparations are in full gear to have the programme working, Olweny said. This is despite the court cases that have dragged the process.
He said Kenyans should expect the Social Health Insurance Fund to be fully operational by October 1.
The government has called on parents to register all school-going children as dependents on the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) before the commencement of the third term on August 26.
This directive follows the enactment of the Social Health Insurance Act 2023 which came into effect on November 22, 2023.
“The registration can be done through sha.go.ke, *147#, or afyangu.go.keas per attached registration manual,” Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang advised in a communiqué.
He asserted that the government, through the Social Health Authority, has developed an enhanced benefits for a package specifically tailored for students.
The scheme will retain the Edu Afya identity under the NHIF which SHIF replaces.
The new law required every Kenyan, including children, to register as a member of the SHIF.
Government rolled out a nationwide registration camapign on July 1 in efforst to expedite the realisation of Universal Health Coverage.
It emphasized the importance of the exercise, particularly for students, to ensure they have access to health coverage under the Edu Afya package.
The government is banking on a grace period provided by the Court of Appeal in its ruling exempting SHIF — Digital Health Act, Primary Healthcare Act and Social Health Insurance Act — from an injunction.
Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
Court of Appeal had on August 15 extended a stay on a High Court order halting transition from NHIF to SHIF pending further orders.
In a ruling delivered by a three-judge bench, on August 15, Appellate Court Judges — Justices Francis Tuiyott, Justice Ali Aroni and Lydia Achode — ordered the status quo be maintained until September 20, when the court will deliver a ruling
About The Author
