Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha has announced that the government will begin the deductions of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) by the end of March 2024.
Speaking in Kisumu on Wednesday, March 6 during a town hall interview, the CS explained that although SHIF will take effect in July 2024, the ministry needed to prepare adequately for the implementation.
Further, Nakhumicha stated that the ministry required about three months for the preparations because the registration would occur digitally. Therefore, she said that after a gazette on Friday, March 9, the new deductions will come into effect.
“We gazette hopefully on Friday. Once they are gazette, they come into effect so that means deductions begin end of March. In terms of access to services, our projection is that from March, we need about 3 months to prepare ourselves because we need a digital system to do registration,
“We need to test it and collect resources. Effective the new financial year, which is July, now Kenyans can begin to access services under the Social Health Authority,” said Nakhumicha.
Earlier in February 26, Nakhumicha said that Kenyans would start contributing to SHIF in July 2024 instead of an earlier announced March 2024 date. The announcement of the change in dates has left many Kenyans confused on the certainty of when the deductions are set to begin.
Salaried Kenyans will contribute 2.75% of their gross wage under the new health plan.
Also Read: Govt Removes Marriage Certificate from SHIF Registration Requirements
Nakhumicha Offers Solutions for Unemployed Kenyans
At the same time, the CS clarified that the government will be implementing Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) subsidies for unemployed Kenyans when the deductions begin.
Therefore, she noted that those without any income will not have to pay for health services.
The CS indicated that the government had put in place mechanisms to ensure that all Kenyans were taken care of in the new reforms and that the subsidy program will be rolled out before the deductions begin.
“In the current law, we have put mechanisms of enforcing people to pay their Social Health Authority. So, already there is a population that the National Government is going to take care of at Ksh300 per person per month for their insurance.
“For those who can’t pay won’t pay, they have no income, the government is putting in a subsidy to pay for their SHIF,” said Nakhumicha.
Mjengo Workers and Inconsistent Salaried Kenyans
On the other hand, the CS said that the government had put in place measures to ensure that those with informal employment still paid for the service.
Some of them, she noted, will be required to pay for an annual premium instead of the monthly deductions because of the uncertainty of their monthly income.
Also Read: Govt Sets Deadline for Kenyans to Register Under SHIF
“Being informal doesn’t mean that one does not have an income. We have people in the informal sector, yet they earn millions and millions of shillings. We have put a mechanism so that at the point you interact with a government service, then you are required to pay for your SHIF.
“For the informal, we will require you to pay for your annual premium, not monthly. Those whose informal income is not uniform or consistent, such as construction where today they have Ksh.60,000 and the next month Ksh.10,000, we have made a provision that you pay once when you have the income,” she explained.
Marriage Certificates as an on Boarding Requirement
On March 1, CS Nakhumicha assured Kenyans that marriage certificates would be removed as an on-boarding requirement for the scheme following an uproar from Kenyans.
The National Assembly’s Legislation Committee told the CS that a marriage certificate would exclude many Kenyans who haven’t formalized their unions.
“There was an outcry from the public during countrywide public participation. This led to the amendment to require proof of marriage only,” stated CS Nakhumicha.
Social Health Authority (SHA) set to replace the current heath cover provider National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). SHA establishes Funds namely, Primary Health Care Fund, Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) and the Emergency Chronic and Critical Illness Fund.
