Kenyans Without NHIF Membership Will Soon Be Denied State Services

Soon, every Kenyan citizen must be a member of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to access state services without which they will be locked out, a new amendment Bill states.

According to the proposed Bill, which is currently before Parliament, NHIF membership will be compulsory for every adult and will be ranked equally with other important state documents such as KRA PINs when seeking government services.

This means that those not registered with the state-run insurance scheme will be cut from a litany of services including customs clearing, and forwarding, underwriting of insurance policies, supplying goods and services to the state, payments of deposits for power connections, among others.

The government-backed National Hospital Insurance Fund (Amendment) Bill will see every registered member contributing a minimum of 500 shillings a month in a remodeled universal health coverage (UHC) scheme for outpatient and inpatient services, including maternity, dialysis, cancer treatment, and surgery.

“We are looking at tying the active membership of NHIF to other services just like KRA PIN is for those going for things such as opening a business or seeking government tenders. This is one of the areas we are looking at once the law passes to encourage enforcement of the same,” Peter Kamunyo, NHIF CEO said.

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According to the NHIF boss, part of the condition for opening a stall or renewing one’s driving license, for instance, will be to have an active NHIF membership.

“These changes will be introduced as subsidiary legislation to the NHIF Act, which is set to be amended,” added dr. Kamunyo.

The changes proposed in the new Bill will rope in more members in a scheme that was only limited to formal sector employees. It will target over 16 million adults not covered by the state-run scheme.

According to official data from the body, NHIF currently has 8.898 million members out of the 25.36 adult population above 18 years of age.

If passed, the Bill will make NHIF the richest government-backed firm especially when employers will be required to match their staff monthly contributions to the fund.

Informal workers will contribute 500 shillings while those in formal jobs will be subject to payments between 150 shillings and 1,700 shillings based on their salary scale.

The requirement for proof of NHIF membership ahead of seeking State services is aimed at driving compliance for every adult to have insurance. It also proposes that monthly contributions to the NHIF be reviewed every five years.

The last time the rates were reviewed was in 2015 and the new move is aimed at boosting cover for diseases such as cancer as well as offering health insurance to all Kenyans.