Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale is facing criticism after the Rural & Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA) accused him of failing to provide a detailed account of the Social Health Authority (SHA) Ksh32 billion disbursement to private hospitals.
RUPHA issued its response following a Friday confrontation in which Health CS Duale deflected questions from a Nation Media journalist and instead launched into a critique of the media house.
''The CS Health has resorted to attacks on the private health sector and the media as the scapegoats for the flawed SHA model. SHA collected just Ksh56B in the 9 months to July compared to NHIF Ksh65B for the same period in 2021/22,'' RUPHA said in the statement.
''Despite higher premiums, Proxy Means Testing has failed. In the same period, SHA incurred claims worth Ksh89B. SHA is in the red to the tune of Ksh32B,'' the association continued.
The clash between CS Duale and the journalist has sparked intense debate over SHA’s finances.
According to the journalist, the media house was in possession of a letter sent to Dr Mercy Mwangangi dated August 7, which detailed that private hospitals had not received the funds.
In a quick rejoinder, the CS interrupted the journalist and denied that such a letter existed, explaining that the person who wrote the letter had not informed the Ministry before sending it to the media house.
“We do not have that letter. The person who wrote that letter has not told us; he has given it to you. So what we want to ask you is, if that person has indeed written it, let him go to the CEO’s office, and we will handle it. We don’t conduct our internal communication through a press conference,” the CS said.
When pressed for a clearer answer, the CS criticised the media house and advised them to turn it into a health facility if they were truly interested in the sector.
''You are bringing patients to your media house. Please turn the Nation Media into a health centre. We will register you. We will give you a SHA portal. And we will deal with your claims,'' the CS said.
RUPHA has challenged the CS to take responsibility and stop attacking those demanding accountability.
''In panic, they have decided to attack everyone, instead of addressing the mistakes in the model. Any facility that asks for payment is labelled a fraudster, a cartel, a beneficiary of NHIF "graft". The truth is that SHA is financially unsustainable,'' RUPHA's statement concluded.
