The Social Health Authority(SHA) on Monday cautioned Kenyans who are not completing their application process when filling in details during SHA registration.
In a press release dated October 6, the authority urged Kenyans to remember to add their dependents as they had done in NHIF, failure to which could impede them from getting the necessary healthcare services they are entitled to.
“Therefore, all Registered SHA Beneficiaries are entitled to free access to Primary Healthcare Services under the Primary Healthcare Fund at Levels 2 (Dispensaries), 3 (Health Centres) and select level 4 Health Facilities and Emergency services in all Health Facilities,” part of the statement read.
All beneficiaries, including those who were automatically transitioned from the now defunct NHIF, are expected to do this through the USSD code *147# or the web-based portal on www.sha.go.ke or www.afyayangu.go.ke.
Currently, the authority has confirmed that a total of 12,704,548 Kenyans have already registered with SHA, including the ones transitioned as per Legal Notice No. 147 of 2024.
The statement further assured all Kenyans of the efforts the government had been putting in place to combat challenges being faced by Kenyans since the roll-out kicked off on October 1.
Addressing the contentious issue regarding most health facilities turning away Kenyans already registered to SHA or asking them to pay cash, SHA assured Kenyans that all public hospitals ranging from level 2 all the way to level 6 facilities had been seamlessly contracted and Kenyans could receive care using their newly acquired SHA numbers.
As for Private and Faith-based facilities, which faced this problem in more abundance than public hospitals, the authority assured Kenyans that a total of 1,442 of them had already received duly signed contracts which is a sharp contrast from the 1,577 reported the previous day.
Explaining this discrepancy, the Authority attributed the error to some of the facilities being duplicated.
They also noted that they have engaged with both the private and faith-based institutions and agreed that they return signed contracts by October 8 and continue offering healthcare services in the interim.
The press release further assured Kenyans that the e-claims portal which had faced several challenges during the initial roll-out process was now fully operational and that the Health Insurance Claims System (HICS) operating under NHIF would continue to be operational for member verification, discharge of patients admitted before October 1 and for claims management of the active enhanced schemes whose Contracts have not expired.
A joint committee Chaired by the Principal Secretary and comprising of State Department for Medical Services officials shall be constituted to undertake verification of all pending bills incurred under the defunct NHIF.
