The government has announced that the Social Health Authority (SHA) contributions would not be paid directly through the consolidated 222222 pay bill number but rather through a separate account.
The Director of Public Communications at State House in Nairobi, Greald Bitok, on Wednesday, November 27, explained that the decision was because of how critical the sector was.
He said that the goal was to do away with the funding problem previously experienced under the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) which threatened to hamper the delivery of healthcare services.
According to Bitok, contributing the funds to a separate account would ensure prompt disbursement of the monthly allocations to healthcare facilities across the country.
“Collecting the members' contributions directly into SHA ensures there are always ready funds to pay service providers outside the often long processes of the national consolidated fund allocations,” Bitok said.
He added, “Unlike other government agencies that can survive on annual allocations, SHA has monthly offset obligations that must be handled promptly to guarantee service.”
Further, Bitok reiterated that the new health insurance scheme simplified access to healthcare even as the government made efforts to fulfill its financial obligations on time.
Bitok was forced to clarify the matter after an online user questioned why the government decided to come up with a separate account for SHA remittances.
"Someone bought a bank recently, it's now listed among the banks to receive monies on behalf of SHA. All government services pay to one Pay Bill, but not SHA," questioned a Kenyan.
Meanwhile, the State House official also revealed that as of Tuesday, November 26, the government had already disbursed Ksh3.7 billion to various hospitals.
According to him, out of the Ksh3.7 billion, Ksh1.25 billion was used to pay all the pending NHIF claims while Ksh1.1 billion was paid for the Linda Mama program and Ksh1.35 billion was paid for SHA capitation payments.
"Before this coming Monday, all the October 2024, claims under SHA will have been cleared even as the authority continues to process claims owed to service providers by the defunct NHIF," Bitok revealed.
