Gachagua questions Sh104 billion SHA expenditure, faults 'rushed' move to replace NHIF
While criticising the SHA project, which has faced challenges since its rollout in October of last year, Gachagua described it as rushed and poorly implemented.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has criticised the government's decision to replace the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) with the new Social Health Authority (SHA), describing it as rushed and unnecessarily expensive.
Speaking during a live TikTok stream on Thursday morning, Gachagua claimed that under the proposed changes to revamp NHIF, Kenyans would pay Sh300 to cover the whole family.
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While criticising the SHA project, which has faced challenges since its rollout in October of last year, Gachagua described it as rushed and poorly implemented.
"According to experts, it was possible to reform and improve NHIF at a cost of about Sh800 million," he claimed.
The former DP, who has been more vocal since leaving office in October, questioned the need for a new healthcare system being deployed under SHA for Sh104 billion.
Healthcare contributions
According to him, Kenya Kwanza's initial plan was to reduce family healthcare contributions from Sh500 to Sh300 while expanding coverage to include all illnesses and chronic conditions.
"The programme was excellent in concept, but the implementation has been very wanting. It was rushed without sufficient consultation with stakeholders," Gachagua noted.
"We wanted to reduce the monthly payments to Sh300 to cover the whole family," he added.
In contrast, for salaried employees, the contribution rate is set at 2.75 per cent of their gross monthly salary, with a minimum contribution of Sh300 per month and no maximum limit.
For non-salaried individuals, including those in the informal sector, the contribution is also 2.75 per cent of their annual household income, subject to the same minimum monthly contribution of Sh300.
Despite the persistent criticism, President William Ruto has remained firm about SHA, insisting it is working.
However, Gachagua now says it is not too late to revert to NHIF.
"The government can still revert to NHIF, which had a clear path for reform at a much lower cost," he asserted.
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