State sets June 30 deadline for SHIF registration, payment to start July 1
In the meantime, the public will continue paying for the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and receiving healthcare services under the NHIF.
Kenyans will start contributing to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) on July 1, 2024, Terry Rotich, the acting corporation secretary at the Social Health Authority (SHA), has announced.
Rotich added on Monday that the public must register as SHIF members by June 30, 2024.
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“Upon the coming into force of these regulations, every person in Kenya is required to apply to the Social Health Authority (SHA) for registration as a member of the SHIF no later than June 30, 2024. Payments of contributions and access to services shall commence on July 1, 2024,” she said.
She spoke at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi during the national validation exercise on the draft SHIF regulations and the draft regulatory impact statement.
In the meantime, Rotich said, the public will continue paying for the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and receiving healthcare services under the NHIF.
The registration will take place at any SHA branches, Huduma centres and any other authorised points.
“The authority will register the applicants as members of the Social Health Insurance Fund and will assign every beneficiary listed under the application form a Social Health Authority number,” Rotich said.
For spouses to be identified and listed as beneficiaries under the contributors' cover, the contributors will be required to provide a copy of their identity card and proof of marriage.
In the case of a child, a copy of the child’s birth certificate or a copy of the birth notification, where the child is below six months old, will be required. For an adopted child, the contributor will be required to provide a copy of an adoption order.
The minimum monthly contribution under the new insurance plan is Sh300.
Households whose income is derived from salaried employment shall pay a monthly statutory deduct contribution to the SHIF at a rate of 2.75 per cent of the gross salary.
Households whose income is not derived from salaried employment shall pay an annual contribution at a rate of 2.75 per cent of the household income as determined by the means-testing instrument.
The amount payable shall be paid 14 days before the lapse of the annual contribution of the beneficiary.
A beneficiary may access treatment outside Kenya in cases where the contributions in favour of the beneficiary comply with sections 27(1) and 2 of the SHIF Act; where the treatment sought is not available in Kenya; and where the treatment sought is being provided by a healthcare provider contracted by the authority.
A beneficiary who requires treatment from outside Kenya shall request the authority to authorise treatment by providing a referral overseas.
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