The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) has begun sensitizing the public on the proposed changes to the regulations governing the health insurance kitty.
The new laws are contained in the NHIF Act 2022 which was assented to by President Uhuru Kenyatta in January.
Part of the provisions contained in the law which will become effective in June this year include barring beneficiaries from accessing the services for 90 days should they default for 12 months consecutively.
This is up from 60 days which was provided previously.
Public Participation
During a participation forum held in Migori, the NHIF County Branch Manager Fred Nyakemwa however said the public still had time to raise issues with the proposals.
Nyakemwa stated that for efficient service delivery, the scheme will roll out an online registrations program targeting biometric identification instead of the regular NHIF card.
“To ease congestion at health facilities, we are going to implement an online registration platform for new members and also continue digitizing the members already registered,” he stated.
In the proposed amendments, the scheme will allow card transfer to a family member upon the demise of the card bearer, after proof of relationship.
To ease congestion at health facilities, we are going to implement an online registration platform for new members and also continue digitizing the members already registered
Fred Nyakemwa
Public outcry on high contribution slapped on self-employed members is however not addressed by new changes as the charges will remain at Sh500 despite calls to have it sliced to Sh300.
There is however leniency on those salaried below Sh6000, as they will only pay sh150 for monthly contributions.
Employees earning more than Sh100 000 are expected to pay 1.7 percent of their gross salary.
Apart from improving service delivery, a key notable change in the new laws proposes the change of the scheme’s name from National Hospital Insurance Fund to National Health Insurance Fund