The National Hospital Insurance Fund's (NHIF), contract to offer a comprehensive medical cover for Civil Servants and the National Police Service was renewed for a period of 1 year.
"In exercise of the powers conferred by section 181 of the Insurance Act, the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning exempts the National Hospital Insurance Fund from the provisions of section 19, 179 (6), 197A and 197B," reads an excerpt of a special gazette notice sent out by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani on March 24.
The move was lauded by the Secretary-General & CEO of the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists & Dentists' Union (KMPDU) Ouma Oluga.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke the KMPDU head was quick to laud CS Yattani for heeding their call.
He went on to explain that despite the countless scandals linked to the state corporation, it was still the best institution when it came to offering medical cover.
"NHIF does not discriminate or try to find loopholes within certain covers that ultimately end up shortchanging clients who have paid their premiums without fail,
"By maintaining our contracts under NHIF, we also get to ensure that our public health facilities acquire funding which they need to improve and turn into world-class facilities," he stated.
CS Yattani's latest gazette notice came as a surprise after it had been announced that the state corporation would no longer be offering medical cover to civil servants as recently as March 16.
This came after months of haggling and correspondences between the National Treasury and the Health ministry over whether NHIF, a state corporation, should be allowed to engage in commercial insurance despite not being registered as an insurance provider under the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA).
At the time, CS Yattani maintained that NHIF would not be allowed to engage in the business of commercial insurance unless it was registered under IRA as per the provisions of Section 19 of the Insurance Act.
The state entity has been earning an estimated Ksh2 billion in premiums from the police, prisons and civil servants as well as other bodies including private entities.
