Thursday, March 7, 2024 – The Government of President William Ruto has negated an earlier promise to start effecting Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) deductions in July 2024.
Speaking during an interview, Health
Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha explained that the government would
require the deductions to be made beginning this March.
CS Nakhumicha remarked that the
Ministry would gazette the SHIF regulations tomorrow to pave the way for
employers to factor this in the March payroll.
“Once the regulations are
gazetted, they come into effect so that means deductions begin end of March,
2.75 per cent of income,” she revealed.
On February 26, the Ministry of
Health had initially indicated that the deductions would start in July after
all Kenyans were registered to the new system.
Offering clarification, CS
Nakhumicha remarked that from March, the government will need 90 days to
prepare for the nationwide rollout of the universal health plan.
As such, while deductions will
start in March, Kenyans will not be able to access the benefits of the
insurance scheme until July 2024.
“We need about 3 months to
prepare ourselves because we need a digital system to do registration, we need
to test it and collect resources,” she explained the delayed access of
benefits.
“Effective the new financial
year which is July, now Kenyans can begin to access services under the Social
Health Authority.”
While salaried Kenyans will have
their deductions automatically deducted, unemployed Kenyans will be required to
make a Ksh300 monthly contribution.
Should the government ascertain
that you cannot afford the Ksh300, the amount will be advanced in the form of a
loan.
The national government has
partnered with financial institutions to offer loans for SHIF to be repaid once
the Kenyan gains employment.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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