President William Ruto announced that the government will pay all October pending bills owed by the Social Health Authority (SHA) to hospitals by next week.
Speaking during the State of the Nation address in Parliament on Thursday, November 21, Ruto revealed that Ksh3.7 billion would be disbursed on Friday, November 22, while the rest of the amount would be released by next week.
President Ruto reiterated that the government had also disbursed Ksh5 billion to settle the historical debts owed to public, private, and faith-based medical facilities.
He attributed the debts accumulated by the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to misalignment between contributions made by Kenyans and the actual cost of healthcare provided by hospitals.
"This agenda is not just a promise, it is a bold commitment to deliver health through transformative financing reforms, making healthcare accessible and affordable, digitising healthcare services to enhance efficiency, eliminate fraud and stop corruption,' the Head of State said.
Ruto further noted that the shift from NHIF to Taifa Care was fundamental and radical in both scale and character and designed to cover every Kenyan regardless of their employment status.
According to the president, while the NHIF had a waiting period lasting between registration and eligibility for services, under Taifa Care, citizens are eligible for all services upon registration.
“Taifa Care has undertaken an accurate costing of all healthcare-related goods and services, to provide timely, effective, and efficient service to everyone,” Ruto announced.
“I urge every Kenyan to take the most important step in securing dependable healthcare for themselves and their families: register now or at the earliest opportunity,” he added.
Ruto's announcement comes hardly three days after Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa assured all health facilities that the government was committed to clearing the pending bills owed to facilities that offered services under the NHIF.
Speaking in Siaya County on Monday, November 18, Barasa said she was happy that several hospitals had confirmed receiving part of the disbursements from the government.
"We are happy with the progress so far on payments of the pending bills and we have assured them that the by end of November, they will have also received the first payment under SHA," Barasa said.
