The proposed Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) won’t survive after the Social Health Insurance Act, 2023 is put into effect, according to Narok Senator Ledama Olekina.
Olekina believes that the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) would be replaced by the SHIF, which will put additional financial obligations on Kenyans at the expense of inadequate healthcare services.
During a Monday panel discussion with Citizen TV, the lawmaker stated that the plan will be undermined by dishonest people and will need to face weeks of legal fights.
“All these pieces of legislation are sponsored by special interests, companies out there and you’ll find that some of the companies that will be given those contracts are associated with very senior politicians. We are behaving as if we live in a first world forgetting that we live in a dilapidated, corrupt environment in which we are led by sycophants. This will collapse, there will be a myriad of cases, people filing lawsuits on a daily basis,” said Olekina.
Silvanus Osoro, the Member of Parliament for South Mugirango and Chief Whip of the National Assembly, supported the plan on the same panel, claiming that it will assist equalize service provision in the health sector.
He also acknowledged that the program will have to contend with a greater challenge from underequipped hospitals, which could limit the successful implementation of the ambitious plan.
Employees on wages will contribute 2.75% of their monthly salary to the SHIF, while Kenyans without income must contribute at least Ksh. 300.
The High Court had blocked the Act’s implementation until the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court’s judgments on January 19.
