Nairobi, 15 October, 2024 / 11:32 pm (ACI Africa).
The Kenyan government has formulated a plan that seeks to settle over seven billion Kenyan shillings (USD 54,360,487) owed to Faith-based health institutions in the East African nation.
The institutions have been demanding the clearance of the long standing debt by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) before continuing to incur more costs under the newly introduced Social Health Authority (SHA) medical scheme.
The government’s response follows the Monday, October 14 meeting of faith-based representatives from the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM), and the Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK) who gathered to deliberate on a way forward including scaling down their services if the debt is not settled.
The Principal Secretary, State Department for Medical Services at Kenya’s Ministry of Health made an unexpected appearance at the meeting and assured the faith-based representatives of the government’s plans to settle the debts.
“This afternoon, the committee will sit to review the situation because we have already secured 1.5 billion Kenya shillings to start disbursing to all healthcare facilities,” PS Harry Kimtai said during the meeting with leaders of faith-based health institutions that was held at Ufungamano house, Nairobi.
