Kenyans who fail to register for the Social Health Insurance Fund are set to miss out on 11 key government services such as registration of marriage and issuance of Driving Licenses (DLs).
In the regulations published by Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha, Kenyans will be mandated to enter the new health insurance scheme.
Proof of registration will be required when accessing government services such as student loans from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), government jobs, motor vehicle registration services, and the acquisition of tax compliance certificates among others.
Other services included in the list were passport and travel document acquisition, registration of businesses, and procurement of goods and services.
Those who miss out on the registration will also miss out on purchasing and selling property and getting government assistance and subsidies.
"A public officer or public entity shall undertake such compliance checks as may be necessary including requesting a person seeking a government service in the public entity to provide their social health insurance number.
"On production of the social health insurance number, the public officer shall verify and confirm that the person’s contributions are up to date," read the regulations in part.
In order to mitigate any lapses in the enforcement of these regulations, all institutions will be required to prove that they indeed check if someone is registered before offering the services.
The check-before-service requirements will also be listed in the service charters of the various institutions.
"The Authority shall provide mechanisms for online or digital verification of the status of contributions on the Centralised Digital Platform.
"A person who requests information on the status of the social health insurance contribution and registration of an individual shall not use the information obtained for any unlawful purpose," the CS added in the regulations.
Upon registration, Kenyans will be required to make monthly payments for the insurance.
Employed Kenyans will part with 2.75 per cent of their gross monthly pay as Kenyans in the informal settlement will be required to pay the same rate for their monthly household income.
Unemployed Kenyans who are above the age of 25 years will also pay Ksh300 monthly.
Vulnerable families will have their insurance paid for by the government.
