Shock as RUTO locks private hospitals out of SHA as his Government rolls out new health insurance scheme – Look!

Wednesday, October 2, 2024 - The new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) has continued to attract criticism over how the government intends to pilot the program even as reports emerged that most private hospitals were yet to get formal contracts from the government.

Speaking during an interview, Kenya Rural, and Private Hospital Association Chairperson Brian Lishenga revealed that most players in the private healthcare industry are convinced the sector is not adequately prepared for the rollout even as the government maintains a brave face that all is well.

 Lishenga maintained that private hospitals are ill-equipped for the transition and went so far as to say that not a single private healthcare provider had a contract with the Social Health Authority (SHA).

 "We are not ready and even across the country, there is no single health provider that I know of that has a contract with SHA,’’ Lishenga revealed.

He added that the government seemed to have embarked on a desperate move to try to reach out to them to get their contracts with the new health scheme.

"As at yesterday, we were scrambling nationwide to get contracts to providers,’’ 

This happened even as the government insisted that everything was ready for their rollout.

The State has urged Kenyans who had not registered for the new insurance scheme to get their details updated for them to access medical services across Kenyan hospitals.

Lishenga stated that even despite their cooperation, there seemed to be reluctance on the part of the government to get the contracts ready on time. 

The Kenyan DAILY POST