How Govt Will Handle Hospitals Demanding Cash From Patients Amid SHIF Transition
Moses Kuria, a senior member of the Council of Economic Advisors has revealed that no Kenyan who has registered for the Social Health Authority will be turned away from any hospital when seeking health services.
The transition from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the Social Health Authority (SHA) which began on 1 October brought about frustration and confusion in hospitals nationwide, where some patients had to wait for their details to be approved while others were turned away.
Many patients reported being forced to pay for essential services, such as dialysis, out of pocket.
Speaking during an interview with Spice FM, Moses Kuria revealed that no one should be turned away. The former Public Service Cabinet Secretary termed the issues being experienced as teething problems which will eventually fizzle out with time.
Former Public Service CS Moses Kuria speaking during the launch of the Customer Service Excellence Training Framework at the Kenya School of Government on June 13, 2024.
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“Nobody who is a member of SHIF/SHA from a licensed contracted facility is supposed to be turned away for any reason”, Kuria said.
Kuria condemned the ongoing cases where patients are being forced to use cash to pay for some services. Pointing out to a report he got from Meru County, Moses Kuria revealed that he contacted Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza over the issue where he communicated his insistence that no patient should be paying cash to access services.
” I talked to Mwangaza about the issue of paying cash and she was not even aware. That is why we are having these measures to fine-tune the transition. We will work with all stakeholders to ensure this stops. Kuria said.
The advisor went ahead to reveal that the government is working on establishing hotline numbers where Kenyans who have been turned away can report such cases.
“We have a hotline and a call center, and I will ensure we publish the hotline, the call center numbers for anybody who is being turned away to report “, he said.
Kuria has encouraged Kenyans to report such incidences since reporting will help the Government point out facilities that are not complying.
Lauding SHIF, Kuria claimed that when fully implemented, this new health program will make Kenya the country with the best healthcare system in the world ahead of the US and India.
“Once SHIF is Implemented, Kenya will be first in the world in matters of health, ahead of the US and India. We will be like a country with no peer in terms of healthcare”, Kuria claimed.
Side by side image of Health PS Mary Muthoni and the SHA logo. PHOTO/ Mary Muthoni.
