The National Assembly is set to discuss the Facilities Improvement Financing Bill, of 2023, which if passed, will see counties lose millions raised by public health facilities.
Facilities Improvement Financing Bill, which is being fronted by Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot is seeking to ensure that hospitals retain all monies raised in medical facilities.
Despite this, the Bill is also seeking to ensure that counties continue funding hospitals from their equitable share distributed from the exchequer.
“There shall be retention of all monies raised or received by or on behalf of all public health facilities,” the Bill reads in part.
“There shall be opened a facility improvement financing account for each public health facility into which shall be paid all monies received by or on behalf of the respective public health facility.”
To make sure that counties do not use this law as a loophole to deny hospitals devolved funds, Cheruiyot has proposed that the funds retained not be used as a substitute for equitable share.
Instead, the retained funds will be used as a supplement to the budgets and resources appropriated to the public health facilities by the respective county governments.
If passed into law, public hospitals will receive cash from own source revenues on top of allocations from county assemblies.
The medical facilities also raise revenues from conditional grants, donations and gifts.
The retained funds will primarily be used to support the respective public health facilities to ensure they deliver quality healthcare.
Hospitals can also use the cash for the purchase and acquire critical health equipment and medical supplies.
Since health is a devolved function, the new law is likely to cause a clash between governors and lawmakers.
