The current National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) cards will be valid until December 2024, National Assembly Health Committee Chairperson Dr. Robert Pukose has revealed.
Speaking during an interview on Spice FM on Wednesday morning, Pukose clarified that Kenyans will be able to access NHIF services throughout the year before transitioning to the new Social Healthcare Insurance Fund (SHIF).
Additionally, he also stated that any person willing to register for NHIF services can continue to do so until the end of the year when the transition to SHIF officially happens.
Further, shedding light on the transition into SHIF, the parliamentarian revealed that the Social Health Authority (SHA) was yet to be fully operational since at the moment, the newly established agency is still relying on NHIF staff and secretariat.
“There are no individuals who have been hired for the SHA, what has happened is that there has been a gazettement of the board of the SHA, but none has been hired,” clarified Pukose”
However, he noted that there was a transition committee that was gazetted by the Health Cabinet Secretary which was mandated to facilitate the transition and report to Parliament.
The transition committee is also obligated to issue progressive reports on its operations on matters of assets, liabilities and functionality for 6 months and a final report at the end of its mandate.
Pukose also clarified that so far, no deductions or contributions to the SHIF had been made yet.
The SHIF which is expected to replace the NHIF, will begin registering Kenyans in January through a mandatory registration exercise.
Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha has further revealed that initial registration to SHIF will be through a self-registration process.
The self-registration process is expected to make the transition seamless and low-impact for Kenyans.
However, the SHIF is still being opposed by various stakeholders even after its implementation was cleared by the Court of Appeal.
On Tuesday, the Council of Governors opposed revenue sharing proposals between counties and the national government stating that the SHIF, National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the suspended Housing Levy were not factored into the proposals.
