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{
    "id": 1557881,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1557881/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 230,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Constitution says that a person shall not be denied emergency medical treatment. For example, if you suffered a cardiac arrest or stroke, or you were involved in an accident and you were rushed to a hospital, the first thing that hospital authorities would ask for was a cash deposit before they could attend to you. This is the first Administration that has operationalised and actualised Article 43(2) of the Constitution through SHA. Let me say it on The Hansard that no hospital can deny a Kenyan admission. The Government will pay for you. If any healthcare facility denies a Kenyan emergency medical treatment, I assure this House that it will be de- registered. For the first time, I am proud to say that a provision in the Bill of Rights has been achieved. Hon. Speaker, the fifth milestone is the timely payment of claims. All claims are paid on the 14th day of every month, which was two days ago. I assure you that all facilities—public, private and faith-based—were paid. I want this House to hold me to account if facilities are not paid their claims by the 14th day of every month. We do that. The defunct NHIF had no payment timelines. That is why they left us with a bill of close to Ksh24 billion. What are the challenges that the Member has asked about? We face challenges. The system is a super technology highway. Some employers are not remitting statutory contributions to SHA, denying services to their employees. Hon. Speaker, you are the Chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission. The Clerk of the National Assembly is an Accounting Officer. You remit statutory deductions, including Pay As You Earn (PAYE), National Social Security Fund (NSSF) or SHA to the relevant Government agencies. We wonder why other Government agencies should not do the same. I confirm to the House that under my leadership, SHA contributions shall be remitted by all private and public institutions, including those under the county governments. I have had a discussion with the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning, and we agreed that this should be done through a check-off system. He can remit SHA contributions for all public servants from their salaries. Secondly, we have inadequate awareness of SHA. Despite 40,000 Kenyans registering every day, there is manipulation of the means testing instrument, resulting in inaccurate premium. Some people want to guide Kenyans and take money from them. I tell Kenyans that registering for SHA is free. Nobody should charge you anything. Later, I will tell you how to register. One of the Members of Parliament will ask that question. We face challenges of management and reforms, which are difficult. People do not want reforms. This system is watertight and anti-fraud. It will give you the best affordable, accessible and equitable healthcare. Hon. Speaker, on the question on implementation of the Social Health Insurance Act of 2023, I thank the National Assembly and the Senate for making sure that all the regulatory laws necessary for operationalization of the UHC were passed. The implementation of the Act is still at a very early stage. Many of the challenges that we face are operational. They do not require legislative interventions. If and when that is required, the Ministry will propose the necessary legislative reforms to the Houses of Parliament. The second question was on teenage mothers who do not have national identity cards (IDs). Thousands of teenage mothers do not have ID cards and are indigent. The SHA will identify them by a system deployed by the Authority, which will help us to determine the measures that we need to put in place to help them. Teenage mothers who do not have IDs are registered in all our public facilities and are given temporary IDs to enable them access services. These are young girls. The Government pays the SHA premiums for them. I urge the House and other leaders, including religious leaders, to have a national conversation on the increasing number of teenage mothers in our country. The indigents in our constituencies and counties will be identified using data at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, working very closely with the Ministry of Health, The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}