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"content": "(Technical hitch)"
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"content": "Hold on, Hon. Kawanjiku. Clerk-at-the-Table or Sergeant-at-Arms, can you check why we have an echo in the sound system? Use the next microphone. Go on."
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"speaker_name": "Kiambaa, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Njuguna Kawanjiku",
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"content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Could the Cabinet Secretary – (c) State the nature of the covers offered by the Authority at all levels of public health facilities, the contributions payable and benefits accruing to individuals and households, and the extent to which the covers offered under SHA are sufficient to ensure access to quality health services by all Kenyans? (d) Explain how the referral system under SHA works and how effective it is towards guaranteeing access to referral health services by all Kenyans? (e) Enumerate the process of enplanement of health facilities to the SHA system and clarify the status of former employees of NHIF, and indicate the current staff establishment of SHA? Thank you, Hon. Speaker."
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"content": "Yes, Cabinet Secretary. Hon. Kawanjiku, do you have two questions?"
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"speaker_name": "Kiambaa, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Njuguna Kawanjiku",
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"content": " Yes, Hon. Speaker."
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"content": "Okay, let us deal with this one first. Proceed, Cabinet Secretary."
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"speaker_name": "Hon. Aden Duale",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Health",
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"content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to address the august House. The first part of the Question is on the key milestones achieved by SHA. I confirm to the House that free primary healthcare services have been offered to 21,390,659 citizens in all our public health facilities – Level 2 to Level 4 Hospitals. These are dispensaries, health centres, sub-county hospitals as well as contracted private and faith-based hospitals that are open to our citizens 24/7. They are free. All these facilities are available. This is public knowledge at the SHA website"
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"content": ": www.sha.go.ke."
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"content": "Secondly, the other milestone is Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for primary healthcare for six months since SHA started in October. The coverage is at 40 per cent. Forty per cent of our citizens have accessed UHC services. I have said the actual number is 21,390,659. This is good news. Every day, including today, between 40,000 and 50,000 Kenyans register for SHA. As I was waiting for my colleague to finish answering his questions, 38,000 Kenyans registered for SHA and 18,000 went through the means testing instrument. That tells you the kind of reception, publicity and the eagerness with which Kenyans want to access this facility. Hon. Speaker, the third very important milestone is that improved healthcare benefit packages are being offered by SHA compared to the defunct NHIF. Which are these services? We have Intensive Care Unit (ICU) services. If you are a member of SHA and you go to ICU, Ksh28,000 will be paid by SHA. Under the defunct NHIF, it was zero. Today you can use SHA for cancer treatment. Today all surgeries are partly paid for by SHA. Today maternity fees is paid by SHA at a very good figure of Ksh30,000. All these benefits were not available under the defunct NHIF. We will keep improving the benefits package until we weed out all medical Harambee WhatsApp groups in the country. As a former Member of Parliament, I know that this is one of the biggest challenges that Members of Parliament and other leaders go through every day to raise funds for patients from their constituencies. There is also the operationalisation of free emergency services at any healthcare facility as envisaged under Article 43(2) of the Constitution. In the Bill of Rights, Article 43(2) of the 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."
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"id": 1557881,
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"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."
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