The government has started clearing debts owed by the moribund National Health Insurance Fund.
Medical Services PS Harry Kimtai said Treasury has released Sh1.5 billion, which will be sent to health facilities.
The payouts are expected to reduce demands for patients to pay for services in cash.
Kimtai said from next week they would release another Sh3 billion to contracted facilities for services provided under NHIF.
The debts were audited by a committee formed by the Ministry of Health to manage the transition.
“We’ve agreed that the committee that was formed under my leadership will continue meeting together with the Treasury so we are able to fast-track the payments of the outstanding debts,” Kimtai said.
The release follows threats by faith-based health institutions, including the Christian Health Association of Kenya, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims to scale down their health services due to the Sh7 billion debt owed to them by the NHIF.
The institutions said follow-ups over the debts accumulated through the Edu Afya and Linda Mama programmes have yet to be resolved. Kimtai said cumulatively, NHIF owes approximately Sh30 billion to all healthcare facilities, with counties collectively owed between Sh8 and Sh12 billion.
“We are going to be that granular to ensure that we know exactly what’s owed, because this other system {NHIF} came to a close on the 30th {September}. So we have to work out to know exactly how much is outstanding to each,” he said.
Kimtai said under the Social Health Authority (SHA), all claims should be paid within three months.
“Within 90 days, there should be no pending bill. And that is what is contained in the contract that we shall share with the facilities,” he said.
On Monday, Public Health PS Mary Muthoni said more Kenyans have enrolled onto SHA, with 147,050 households registered so far.
Muthoni said the numbers were expected to go higher in the exercise being conducted by the National Government Administration Officers in collaboration with community health volunteers across the country.
“We are hoping that with the SHA rollout, services are going to be super in most of the hospitals. We implore to the people of this country to register for the Social Health Authority because, in one way or another, there are three things that we have to learn from the Social Health Authority,” Muthoni said.
Muthoni spoke in Machakos county on Monday.
“Unlike NHIF, where only 20 per cent of Kenyans used to get services through NHIF, we are rolling out 100 per cent of Kenyans, including you and me, that nobody will ever go to a hospital in this country again and fail to get services or be attended to,” Muthoni said.
She said there were three funds that would take care of that; the Primary Healthcare Fund that would take care of ‘mashinani’ dispensaries and health facilities, the Social Health Insurance Fund that would take care of secondary and tertiary services and the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund, which will take care of long-term illnesses.
Muthoni underscored the need for collaboration with the 47 counties to make the SHA rollout successful.
“Our SHA teams have rolled out on the ground. Our CHVs and NGAO are doing commendable jobs to register individuals and households. In Machakos specifically, the national government, in collaboration with CHVs have registered 147,050 households and it will continue. They have been able to sensitise more than 193,000 households in this county,” the PS said.