The government has announced plans to clear outstanding debts owed to healthcare facilities, with Ksh 1.5 billion set to be disbursed this week and an additional Ksh 3 billion to be paid next week, bringing the total to Ksh 4.5 billion.
This move comes in response to mounting pressure from faith-based health institutions, including the Christian Health Association of Kenya, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims.
These institutions recently threatened to scale down their health services due to a Ksh 7 billion debt owed to them by the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
The debts, primarily accrued through the Edu Afya and Linda Mama programs, have yet to be fully addressed.
Principal Secretary for Medical Services, Harry Kimtai, acknowledged the scale of the problem, noting that NHIF owes approximately Ksh 30 billion to healthcare facilities nationwide, with counties collectively owed between Ksh 8 billion and Ksh 12 billion.
He stressed the need for a detailed assessment to ensure accurate payment.
“We are going to be granular in ensuring we know exactly what’s owed, because the previous NHIF system closed on September 30. We need to work out exactly how much is outstanding to each facility,” Kimtai said.
Kimtai assured that under the new Social Health Authority (SHA), all claims will be paid within 90 days.
“Within 90 days, there should be no pending bill. This is what is contained in the contract we will share with the facilities,” he added.
To ensure transparency, a committee will be established to oversee the payment process.
Additionally, SHA has implemented a fully digitized claims portal that allows real-time monitoring, with over Ksh 100 million worth of claims already recorded.
The SHA is also digitizing health records and plans to distribute tablets to healthcare workers to streamline the system.
“This will transform our healthcare system,” Kimtai remarked, highlighting the shift to e-contracting for healthcare facilities, which will replace the previous manual process.
He urged facilities to set up customer service desks to help Kenyans register with SHA.
