Health facilities set to receive Sh5.3 billion in unpaid NHIF claims

GEORGE KAIGA-KNA

Health Cabinet Secretary Adan Duale has announced that the government will clear all pending bills amounting to Sh5.3 billion owed to health facilities under the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) within the next two months.

Speaking in Kakamega County, Duale said the payments would be made once the National Treasury introduces a supplementary budget to allocate funds for the exercise.

The pending bills are reimbursements owed by the defunct NHIF to public, faith-based, and private health facilities for services rendered before the insurer was abolished.

“Anybody with a pending bill of NHIF from Sh1million to Sh10 million, totaling Sh5.3 billion, accounting for 92percent of the entire NHIF bill, as a government under the directive of President William Ruto, we will pay it in the next two months,” he added.

“And these pending bills of NHIF is why we had to close it and start SHA, because it was a den of corruption. It is where patients’ money was being stolen. Where people were building their wealth using patients’ money, and it’s immoral and unconstitutional, we shall not allow it, going forward,” he warned. 

Duale said that the government has already formed an independent team, outside the Ministry of Health, to verify all pending bills.

“After we formed a team, some fraudulent individuals who knew that their claims were fake went to court to stop me from what they successfully did after the court declared the committee unconstitutional but I want to say that the same constitution under article 203 and 202 and the Public Finance Management Act, obligates me, as a public officer to protect public funds,” he cautioned.

Duale said the government is committed to ensuring that all Kenyans access medical care, regardless of their social status in society.

“If you go to a public health facility, dispensary, health centre and sub county hospitals, outpatient is free but you must register with SHA so that county governments can make claims for reimbursement from SHA to enhance services delivery,” he added.