Senior Government Economic Advisor Moses Kuria has said that the government will soon address concerns raised by Kenyans who are being turned away by hospitals after Social Health Authority (SHA) implementation.
Speaking during a live interview with Spice FM on October 3, Kuria said that the government will be launching a hotline and USSD for individuals unfairly denied treatment at different facilities in the country.
Further, he explained that the purpose of the hotline is to help the authority gather information on the ground and resolve the concerns.
“Today we will publish the hotlines and call center numbers for anybody who is being turned away for any reason. When they are turned away and they contact us, we will publish the information and identify the non-compliance points,
“The only way to solve some problems is iteration, you fix as it goes. If you have been contributing to NHIF, there is portability of your contribution, so you are covered until your last contribution,” said Kuria.
Also Read: Doctors Poke Holes in SHA Hours After Rollout
Kuria Faults Providers for SHA Errors
According to Kuria, SHA is facing implementation challenges not because the system is not working, but because of non-compliance by the providers.
“It is not a system issue, it is a people issue, a non-compliance issue by the providers. Because we have said that nobody who is a member of SHA from a contracted facility should be turned away,” he reiterated.
Further, Kuria Kuria said there may have been a miscommunication between the SHA leadership and the hospitals across the country.
He explained that the hospitals will be allowed to claim funds used for treatment of patients from the government and they, therefore, ought not to deny anyone services.
“People talk about Maisha number, this is the real Maisha Namba. It is not just about health, that is the bi product. This is a system for law and order.”
In addition, Kuria has revealed that SHA is working parallel to the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) until November 26.
“We are already in a parallel mode. NHIF is still in place up to the November 26. Nobody is supposed to be turned away for whatever reason as long as the facility is registered.
“The reality is that once Kenyans get used to the new system, they will be fine.”
Also Read: NHIF to SHA: Govt Gives Update on Dialysis & Cancer Services
Patients Denied treatment at Hospitals
Several patients across the country, including those in critical conditions reported that they were turned away by various hospitals as NHIF transitioned to SHA.
On the other hand, medical facilities under faith-based organizations and the Rural and Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA) have expressed concerns about the new Social Health Authority (SHA) contracts.
They explained that the government owed them Ksh21 billion through NHIF, therefore before the launch of the new system, there should have been a reconciliation so that each hospital can sign off before NHIF closes.
“The reason why we worry about the transition with the claims pending is because there is going to be a system change and we have experience in the past where the system changes and the claims that were on process get lost and it takes time to have them reconstructed, added and paid.
We’ve followed up as FBOs, and individually and as of now it’s about Ksh.6 billion pending. We are concerned that someone could switch off the switch one day and all those claims will be lost,” RUPHA Sec-Gen, Dr. Brian Lishenga said.
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