The Rural and Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA) has sounded the alarm that more than 3,000 private and faith-based hospitals could close their doors by December if the government fails to pay outstanding debts running into billions.
RUPHA chair Brian Lishenga said on Monday, September 8, that the Ministry of Health’s failure to clear the arrears was crippling facilities across the country.
He noted that the government owes Ksh33 billion under the former National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and another Ksh43 billion under the Social Health Authority (SHA) a combined Ksh76 billion.
“If this money is not paid, we may not have private hospitals by December, or the entire system will be forced to revert to cash payments,” Lishenga told NTV. He warned that such a move would undermine SHA, since Kenyans would question why they were still contributing to the scheme while paying out of pocket.
The association is urging the government to speed up verification of pending bills owed to healthcare providers.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, however, moved to reassure hospitals that the government will clear all pending NHIF debts within two months.
Speaking in Kakamega on September 3, Duale said the first repayment of Ksh5.3 billion would go to facilities owed between Ksh1 million and Ksh10 million.
He added that an independent team has been set up to review claims above Ksh10 million before payment is made. “These NHIF pending bills are the reason we had to shut down NHIF and start SHA, because it had become a den of graft,” Duale said.
According to the CS, 92 per cent of the arrears fall within the Ksh1 million to Ksh10 million bracket and will be settled once Treasury releases funds through a supplementary budget.
