Bomet County Governor Prof. Hillary Barchok has appealed to Kenyans to be patient with the Social Health Authority (SHA), saying that the current challenges with the public medical insurer were only systemic teething problems, which the government was keen on resolving to ensure efficiency.
Speaking during a public function in Boita township in Konoin Sub-County, Barchok observed that the new national health insurance scheme, which was introduced last year to replace the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), was in its formative stage of implementation and hence prone to the challenges of novelty, which would be addressed in due course.
He noted that with the introduction of SHA and the Social Hospital Insurance Fund (SHIF), the government was intent on the provision of universal health care for all citizens and the reported inefficiency of services was regrettable and could only be attributed to technical and systemic issues rather than lethargy or ill-will on the part of government.
The governor cited the failure by members of the public to register and promptly pay their monthly premiums as the major challenge inhibiting the operational capacity of SHA.
“It is observable that whereas a number of potential beneficiaries have registered with SHA, apart from the few in formal employment whose premiums are deducted directly on their pay slips, those from the informal sector are not paying their premiums as required and this has caused the financial strain on SHA in terms of paying the contracted medical service providers,” the Governor said.
The result, the governor said, was that currently, SHA had a few members actively contributing to the public medical insurance kitty which had over 18 million registered members and over 50 million Kenyans who are potentially in need of support from SHA.
He urged members of the public to register and give accurate information to prompt proper apportioning of the correct amount in contributory premiums due from each member so as to ensure that SHA raises enough funds to work efficiently.
Prof. Barchok took the opportunity to hail Bomet residents for registering with SHA in large numbers, with the county being the second in the registration of SHA members in the country after Mombasa, where the scheme was piloted and urged county residents to continue registering and paying up their premiums in good time.
He said that currently, in SHA member registration, Bomet had exceeded 60 percent of target population and urged residents to continue registering with the public medical scheme, which he observed had so far helped many patients from poor backgrounds to access quality medication in top-notch hospitals.
At the same time, Prof. Barchok appealed to private hospitals, which are reportedly reeling from debt due to NHIF and SHA, to continue offering services to the public as the government considers their debt claims.
The private hospitals, under the umbrella of the Rural and Urban Private Hospitals Association (RUPHA), had earlier refused to work under the SHA arrangement until their due outstanding debts owing to the defunct NHIF were settled. However, they later toned down, giving the government an ultimatum to have the debts settled.
And in Bomet, Barchok acknowledged that private hospitals like Tenwek and Kaplong Mission, which were instrumental and dependable referral facilities in the region, were owed by the government insurer, which may affect service delivery.
But they requested the privately owned hospitals to continue serving the public while the government works to meet its end of the bargain so as to ensure that no patient suffers due to the standoff.
He noted that President William Ruto had already given an undertaking to have all the pending bills to private hospitals settled with claims below Sh10 million promptly settled and thanked him for the decision.
By Erick Ongeri
