Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa was put on task to explain reports that the Social Health Authority (SHA) had only covered Ksh23,620 on a medical bill of the Ksh1.6 million issued to Baby Arianna who tragically passed on a few days ago to Pearson Syndrome.
While appearing before the Senate on Wednesday, February 26, the Health CS initially seemed to dodge the question raised by Senators John Methu and Samson Cherargei on whether SHA had only paid the small amount as largely reported since her passing.
Upon pushing further, however, Barasa clarified that the authority had yet to receive an invoice from the Indian Hospital where Arianna had been receiving treatment for months before she passed.
"With regards to Baby Arianna, SHA has not received an invoice from Fortis Hospital, India. Upon receipt, we shall review and make payments of what is allowed according to the benefit package," CS Barasa stated.
Initially, the CS had diverted attention from the question and instead sent condolences and stated that the Ministry had been looking into ways to ensure that the condition was well understood in the Kenyan healthcare system for faster diagnoses.
She also spoke on the increase in the amount covered by SHA for ICU hospital stays, comparing it to the now-defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
"When it comes to the management of the baby, you will notice that NHIF previously was Ksh4,600 for ICU but I can assure you that the ministry has been advocating and pushing to ensure that our ECIF (Emergency Critical Illness Fund) is increased and right now we are happy to say that after reviewing it has been increased to Ksh28,000," she stated.
Arianna Wairimu was a one-year-old and seven-month-old baby who first hit the limelight last year when she was diagnosed with a rare condition that had only inflicted 10 people worldwide.
On Sunday, February 23, she passed on at a Nairobi hospital after she was admitted for a procedure and ultimately diagnosed with Rotavirus. Efforts to revive her proved futile.
This was especially devastating for the family as she had just been discharged from Fortis Memorial Hospital in New Delhi, India after months of treatment.
In October 2024, Medical Services Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai stated that he had instructed health officials assigned to Baby Arianna's case to settle her bill after Fortis Hospital declined a guarantee of payment issued because NHIF supposedly owed the hospital millions.
As of November 2024, the hospital told Nation.Africa that she was due for discharge from the hospital, which had made her their Pearsin Syndrome ambassador, but she would be held at the hospital until the bills were settled.
The family's tail of unkept promises by the ministry resonated with many Kenyans causing an uproar that led the Senators, led by Nyandarua's Methu, to pose the question to the CS.
