In a significant ruling on Friday, July 12, a three-judge bench of the High Court declared the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) unconstitutional. The court has mandated Parliament to amend the law establishing the fund by November 12, 2024.
During their ruling, Justices Alfred Mabeya, Robert Limo, and Friday Mugambi granted Parliament a 120-day period to rectify the mentioned Act.
The three-judge bench emphasized that Parliament must conduct sufficient public participation as stipulated in the constitution before enacting or amending the same act to address the unconstitutional provisions.
“A declaration is hereby issued that the entire Social Health Insurance Fund Act 2023, the entire Digital Health Act 2023 and the entire Primary Health Act 2023 are all unconstitutional for the reasons set out in the judgement and therefore invalid, null and void,” the court ruled.
President Ruto had announced that the rollout would take place in October 1and NHIF had been notifying Kenyans through text massages to register with SHA.
According to the former Health Cabinet Secretary, NHIF was originally intended for employed Kenyans who could afford its payments, which overlooked unemployed citizens. Therefore, there is now a push to establish a system that addresses the healthcare needs of all Kenyans, regardless of their employment status.
Under SHIF, salaried employees were required to contribute 2.75% of their monthly income, while unsalaried Kenyans were expected to contribute a minimum of Ksh. 300.
Former Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha introduced a new tool designed to track the income and wealth of self-employed Kenyans for the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
In an interview with Citizen TV, Nakhumicha explained that the self-assessment tool would assess wealth and facilitate contributions from unemployed and self-employed individuals to SHIF. The tool categorizes contributors and calculates their required contributions based on their declared income.
“We have people who are self-employed and know their earnings,” Nakhumicha stated. “We’ve implemented a means-testing tool—a scientific self-assessment tool—where individuals declare their income. Based on their annual earnings, the tool calculates the required 2.75% contribution,” she explained.
According to the Ministry of Health, the SHIF was to help vulnerable Kenyans gain access to a broad spectrum of benefits, including screening, dialysis, kidney transplants, essential medications, and vital medical equipment.
The CS said the new health model was to now offer up to Ksh11,200 for normal deliveries and Ksh32,200 shillings for caesarian deliveries under the Linda program, which is higher than the previous NHIF reimbursements of Ksh5,000 and Ksh17,000, respectively.
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