The new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) faced significant criticism on Tuesday morning regarding the government’s approach to implementing the program.
Concerns were raised as reports indicated that many private hospitals had yet to receive formal contracts from the government.
During a discussion on Citizen TV, Brian Lishenga, Chairperson of the Kenya Rural and Private Hospital Association, emphasized that many stakeholders in the private healthcare sector believe the industry is unprepared for the rollout, despite the government’s assurances that everything is in order.
Lishenga stated that no private healthcare provider has secured a contract with the Social Health Authority (SHA).
“We are not ready. As far as I know, there isn’t a single health provider with a contract from SHA,” he asserted.
He further criticized the government’s efforts, suggesting that they appeared to be scrambling to finalize contracts with healthcare providers.
“As of yesterday, we were making a nationwide effort to secure contracts,” he said, contrasting this with the government’s claims of readiness for the rollout.
The state has encouraged Kenyans who have not yet registered for the new insurance scheme to update their information in order to access medical services across the country.
Lishenga noted that despite their cooperation with government efforts to facilitate contract distribution, there seems to be a delay in finalizing these agreements.
“We’ve worked with the government, even as they’ve asked us to inform our members about contract availability,” he explained.
“However, as of last night, no one had a contract with SHA, and there are still regions where contracts have not been delivered.”
He also expressed concerns over the rushed implementation of the program, which he believes may have excluded key stakeholders.
“The haste to roll out this program has resulted in gaps.
I can tell you that by yesterday evening, NHIF officers, as we don’t yet have SHA offices, were hastily providing physical contracts for healthcare providers to sign.”
The new health insurance scheme is scheduled to be officially launched today, marking the retirement of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Kenyans seeking health services from both private and public hospitals will need to register for the new scheme to utilize government insurance benefits.
