Kenyans registered to the Social Health Authority (SHA) will enjoy new services that have not been covered under the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Elijah Wachira, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SHA has explained that the move from NHIF will enable the government to enhance medical cover provision.
According to Wachira, whether one is registered to the scheme or not, they will receive treatment and emergency services.
However, this will only be for the first 24 hours.
“SHA is an enhancement of NHIF. We have universal coverage and anyone in an accident will be able to receive emergency services and treatments whether they are registered or not, within the first 24 hours,” he said.
Also Read: Govt to Issue 70,000 Mobile Tablets to Healthcare Workers Ahead of SHA Rollout
Why NHIF names was Changed to SHA
Additionally, the CEO explained that the difference in SHA and NHIF is not the name. Wachira said that SHA is more comprehensive and covers a bigger scope of services.
“There was no problem with the name NHIF. It has served Kenyans and done some good work. there was a legal framework that governed what NHIF could do and not do.
“Because we needed a service with a bigger scope, we had to come up with another framework. Given that the two would work parallel for some time, the SHI ACT was enacted on October 19, 2023.”
Also Read: What Will Happen to Patients on NHIF When SHA is Rolled Out? Ministry of Health Explains
Will Kenyans Lose their NHIF Money?
On the other hand, SHA executives noted that NHIF contributions will not be interfered with.
Doctor Zeinab Gura explained that those who have been contributing to the previous fund will continue with payment from where they left off after registering to SHA.
“Your NHIF Contributions Are Safe. No one will lose their money. If you’ve already paid your NHIF contribution for the entire year, the remaining amount will be transferred to SHA after you complete your registration,” she said.
Moreover, Kenyans have been directed to register afresh to the authority to enable it to transfer fresh and clean patient’s data.
The SHA CEO stated that the ministry learnt of many inconsistencies from NHIF, including some biometrics not matching the photos in the database.
“Why not just migrate data from NHIF? Some data is clean enough to be migrated, but others are not. As we went through the data, a man put up his biometrics and a lady’s face came up. There are some biometrics that did not match to the data,” said Elijah.
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