Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa has reassured private hospitals that the government is actively working to settle the Sh30 billion NHIF debt.
Acknowledging the challenges faced by police officers and teachers in accessing services at these facilities, Barasa said together with the Social Health Authority (SHA) team, they have held meetings to develop a payment plan.
“We are engaging Treasury and various Ministries, Departments and Agencies involved to ensure we clear this debt so that services can resume,” she said.
“We will honor the bill, we admit and we are having a payment plan.”
Barasa who had appeared before the Senate was responding to a questions by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambu and his Kajiado counterpart Senator Seki Lenku.
Lenku wanted the CS to confirm if she was aware that civil servants like the police and teachers are not receiving treatment from private hospitals because of the debt that NHIF owes these hospitals.
A week ago, the private hospitals suspended SHA services citing the unpaid NHIF arrears.
Rural and Urban Private Hospitals Association (RUPHA) demanded that the government settle the Sh30 billion NHIF arrears in full.
The association claimed that 54 per cent of hospitals have not received payments from SHA.
But, according to CS Barasa, payments has been timely.
“While we had talked about 90 days we are actually paying them within 30 days,” she stated.
She added that the problem was not with SHA but claims management which she said has since been addressed.
Barasa at the same time revealed that NHIF accounts held a total of Sh1.4 billion before the transition.
She said SHA is now in the process of closing the accounts, save for one for the collection of NHIF ledge contributions from employers and government institutions paying NHIF debt.
