Governors decry being sidelined in SHIF implementation process

The Council of Governors (COG) has faulted the national government for bypassing them in the implementation of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).

It has now emerged that none of the counties had signed an Intergovernmental Participatory Agreement (IPA) with the implementation authority yet most of the health facilities are run by counties

Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, the chairperson of the COG health committee on Wednesday disclosed that tens of health facilities are yet to be registered, raising concern among patients.

"Patients suffering from chronic diseases are now in danger as they lack medical cover since the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) was stopped on September 30, 2024," he said during the COG quarterly meeting in Naivasha, Nakuru.

The Governor urged the National Treasury to boost funding for the transition process, which faces numerous challenges, including a shortage of devices needed to register new members.

In response, Public Health Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai assured the governors that the government is working to acquire an additional 65,000 devices for all public health facilities.

The Social Health Authority (SHA) headquarters in Nairobi. (Photo: SHA)

Challenges

He acknowledged that the registration process is experiencing initial challenges and that the ministry is in discussions with various stakeholders, including the Council of Governors, to address these issues.

The PS also highlighted that the ministry shall also audit the Sh30 billion that NHIF allegedly owes counties.

He admitted that the government owes counties and has allocated Sh1 billion to the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority for the procurement of essential medical supplies for those counties.

Kimtai also mentioned that under the new scheme, patients will have three months to make payments via a paybill number before transitioning to the eCitizen portal.

Social Health Authority (SHA) CEO Elijah Wachira reported that, despite some challenges, over 12.5 million people had registered in just two days, with 9 million members successfully transferred from NHIF to SHIF.

He described the exercise as 85 per cent successful, attributing the slow registration process to the high number of Kenyans eager to join the new health scheme.

Meanwhile, CEC Health Caucus Chair Rosylene Omollo raised concerns about the implementation timeline and programme details for the new scheme.

Her Nandi counterpart, Ruth Koech, echoed these concerns, noting that counties are owed over Sh30 billion by the defunct NHIF, and it remains unclear how this debt will be resolved.