Government and Policy

Every Kenya To Pay NHIF 6000 Shillings In A New Health Bill

BY Getrude Mathayo · May 20, 2021 11:05 am

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The 6,000 annual fees will be paid under the controversial universal health coverage (UHC) scheme for outpatient and inpatient services, including maternity, dialysis, cancer treatment, and surgery.

If Parliament adopts State-backed changes to the law in the race to offer medical cover for all, every household in Kenya be compelled to pay 500 shillings monthly (6000 shillings annually) towards the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).

The government-backed National Hospital Insurance Fund (Amendment) Bill seeks to make it compulsory for every Kenyan above 18 years to contribute and be a member of NHIF.

The 6,000 annual fees will be paid under the controversial universal health coverage (UHC) scheme for outpatient and inpatient services, including maternity, dialysis, cancer treatment, and surgery.

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The planned mandatory NHIF membership will be an upgrade of the scheme where only workers in the formal sector are compelled to join.

“The Bill proposes to insert a new Section 15A to make it mandatory for any person who has attained the age of 18 years and is not a beneficiary to register as a member of the Fund,” states the memorandum of the Bill.

Currently, only employed Kenyans are the ones who must pay for their NHIF, the amount that is often deducted from their monthly pay and remitted by the employer. The scheme is currently optional for self-employed Kenyans in the informal sector.

The revision of the law, which is currently before Parliament, will target more than 16 million adult Kenyans who are not covered by the NHIF.

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According to official data, more than 25.36 million Kenyans are above 18 years and NHIF has 8.898 million members.

The compulsory enrolment has the potential of making NHIF the richest State-backed firm given that the proposed law will also compel employers to match workers’ monthly contributions to the Fund.

The NHIF Act makes it voluntary for informal workers to join and contribute Sh500 monthly. Only those informal jobs are compelled to contribute between Sh150 and Sh1,700, depending on the salary scale.

It is not clear how the State intends to make the unemployed or those working in the informal sector compulsorily register and contribute to NHIF.