According to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, President William Ruto ignored an option to upgrade the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the new Social Health Authority (SHA).
The project that has Kenyans up in arms has already seen an initial expenditure of approximately Ksh110.9 billion: Ksh6.1 billion for the SHA system and a Ksh104.8 billion contract for the supporting technology infrastructure.
Speaking during a live TikTok stream on Thursday morning, Gachagua revealed that under the proposed changes to revamp NHIF, Kenyans would pay Ksh300 to cover the whole family.
While criticising Ruto’s pet project, which has been plagued by challenges since its rollout in October last year, Gachagua described it as rushed and poorly implemented.
“According to experts, it was possible to reform and improve NHIF at a cost of about Ksh800 million,” he revealed.
The former second in command, who has been more vocal since he was bundled out of office in October, questioned the need for a new healthcare system being deployed under SHA for Ksh104 billion.
According to him, Kenya Kwanza's initial plan was to reduce family healthcare contributions from Ksh500 to Ksh300 while expanding coverage to include all illnesses and chronic conditions.
“The program was good in concept, but the implementation has been very wanting. It was rushed without sufficient consultation with stakeholders,” Gachagua noted.
Adding, “We wanted to reduce the monthly payments to Ksh300 to cover the whole family.”
In contrast, for salaried employees, the contribution rate is set at 2.75 per cent of their gross monthly salary, with a minimum contribution of Ksh300 per month and no maximum limit.
For non-salaried individuals, including those in the informal sector, the contribution is also 2.75 per cent of their annual household income, subject to the same minimum monthly contribution of Ksh300.
Ruto has remained bullish over SHA despite the criticism, insisting SHA is working. However, Gachagua now says it is not too late to revert to NHIF.
“The government can still revert to NHIF, which had a clear path for reform at a much lower cost,” he asserted.
