The deputy national chairperson of Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has raised concerns over the transition of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) which is set to be rolled out on October 1.
Speaking on Citizen TV on Wednesday, KMPDU’s deputy national chairperson Kahura Mundia noted that that the country is not adequately prepared for the SHIF citing health service providers have not been fully onboarded.
The official further lamented that dental services have not yet been provided by the SHIF in its first year of operation meaning there are no dental benefits.
“All Kenyans will have no dental benefits and I want to be on record that the Social Health Authority (SHA) does not envision providing dental services in its first year of operations. That means all Kenyans will have to procure a separate medical cover or a separate dental cover to provide for dental benefits. So the mouth has not been prioritised, I don't know why,” he revealed.
He noted that the body is full of many parts that need specialised care and SHIF’s exclusion of some services will force Kenyans to incur extra costs.
“Dental care is very important because of the emergencies that are seen in that region. Cancers around the mouth will not be screened as well as infections happening in the mouth.”
The KMPDU official also observed that the issue of selecting facilities has not yet been addressed as patients have not chosen their preferred service providers.
“Good money is going to be spent publicising SHIF. The providers themselves, most of the public and private facilities have not been onboarded and the contracts are yet to be processed,” he explained.
Kahura Mundia pointed out that Kenyans registered SHIF have not been given a list of facilities that they can attend to even as the new Fund takes effect on October 1.
According to statistics shared by the Ministry of Health, 1.9 million Kenyans have already registered for SHIF.
Similarly, he was concerned that the Social Health Authority (SHA) had not released funds for the implementation of SHIF Kahura Mundia and cautioned that the high number of cases might overwhelm facilities.
“As we get into October, there is no money allocated to SHIF, there is no money allocated to the emergency funds and by the time is coming and the cases that happen per month or per day sometimes they are too many, unless they suggest they pay at the end of the quarter,” he stated adding that if the providers are not communicated on time, the system might crush.
