Public Service, Performance, and Delivery Management CS
Justin Muturi has directed Huduma Centres across the country to set up Social
Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) desks.
The CS said that the move will help end confusion around the Social Health Insurance Fund and Social Health Authority.
According to the CS, the SHIF desks in Huduma Centres will enable an easy point of access to information.
“I recognise that there has been confusion around SHIF and the Social Health Authority (SHA). To bridge this gap, I have directed that all Huduma Centres across the country establish SHIF desks, ensuring every Kenyan can easily access information and register for this transformative program,” Muturi said in a statement on Monday on X.
On Monday, CS Muturi visited the Kapsabet Huduma Centre in Nandi County to assess the quality of services offered to Kenyans.
He said a key highlight of the visit was the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) desk set up to provide explanations and registration services to residents.
“Affordable healthcare, under Universal Health Coverage, was a cornerstone of Kenya Kwanza’s manifesto during the 2022 campaigns, and we are committed to fulfilling this promise,” the CS said.
CS Muturi said he was particularly pleased with the proactive approach at Kapsabet Huduma Centre, where the SHIF desk is already operational and serving the community effectively.
“I commend the hardworking staff at Kapsabet Huduma Centre for their dedication to quality service. While challenges remain, we are committed to addressing them and improving public service delivery for all Kenyans.”
This comes even as the rollout of the new health scheme has continued to face challenges and complaints from many Kenyans.
As of November 28, 2024, the Ministry of Health said that 15, 559,426 Kenyans had already registered with the new Social Health Authority (SHA) scheme.
The South Rift Regional manager for SHA Wambugu Kariuki said 9,752,780 of those registered are voluntary registrations.
From the more than 9,752,780 voluntary SHA registrations, at least 3.6 million are aged between 18 and 35 years old, 3.33 million are aged between 36 to 55 years, while over 1.37 million are above 55 years old.
Some 1.45 million are aged below 18 years.
The remaining 5,806,646 were migrated from the now-defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
SHA is the authority mandated to manage the new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) in a significant policy shift that intends to provide health insurance coverage to over 50 million Kenyans, up from the 10 million that were under NHIF
The shift is a step toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and all Kenyan citizens and their dependents must register as SHA members to reap the benefits of SHIF.
