Health ministry seeks Sh100M to conduct public participation on suspended UHC laws

The Ministry of Health has requested a budget allocation of Sh100 million from Parliament. This funding is intended for conducting public awareness and stakeholder engagement on the Social Health Insurance Act (SHIA), which was declared unconstitutional by the High Court.

Medical Services Principal Secretary Dr Harry Kimtai highlighted the importance of this allocation during a session with the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Health, highlighting the need to comply with the court's ruling by facilitating extensive public sensitization on the affected laws.

“We are requesting a budget allocation of Sh100 million to undertake sensitization on the UHC laws in accordance with the court judgment,” said Dr. Kimtai.

The High Court nullified the Social Health Insurance Act 2023, the Primary Healthcare Act 2023, and the Digital Health Act 2023, which had replaced the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), due to insufficient public participation.

Social Health insurance was rolled out on July 1st by the Ministry of Health and was to be operational by October.

A three-judge bench, comprising Justices Alfred Mabeya, Robert Limo, and Fredrick Mugambi, gave Parliament 120 days to make the necessary amendments. During this period, the acts will remain suspended.

Dr. Kimtai also stated that the ministry intends to appeal the court's decision to suspend the health laws after the 45-day stay order on implementation expires.

“We’ve agreed to form a joint team from the ministry, Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), and the Attorney General to strategize on how to appeal, and conduct public participation,” he said.

Dr. Kimtai indicated that the ministry has examined the court's ruling and is confident in its grounds to appeal certain directives.

“So far, we’ve agreed to use this two-pronged approach of appealing and then conducting public participation,” he noted.

In its judgment, the three-judge bench highlighted that certain provisions within the Social Health Insurance Act (SHIA) restricted certain rights. Specifically, they referenced sections 26(5) and 27(4) of the SHIA, which respectively require registration and contributions as prerequisites for accessing public services from national and county governments, and stipulate that healthcare services are contingent upon active contributions to the SHIF.

The judges concluded that these sections did not adequately account for exceptions, particularly concerning emergency medical services, according to Article 43 of the constitution, which guarantees all Kenyans the right to healthcare.

On July 17, the Senate committee recommended the annulment of regulations intended to operationalize the scheme. Chairman Mwenda Gataya, presenting the committee's report, identified several flaws in the regulations, asserting that they did not align with constitutional provisions. The committee raised concerns that the Ministry of Health had not sufficiently incorporated feedback from the public and the Council of Governors during the formulation of these regulations.

"The committee could not verify from the Ministry's submissions the extent to which input from counties, including submissions from the Council of Governors during public participation and other stakeholder engagements, was considered and integrated into the final regulations."