President William Ruto announced that contributions to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) will be restructured to reflect individual contributors’ income.
“Contributions to NHIF will now be graduated and will depend on people’s income,” Ruto announced.
This comes three months after the President pledged on the campaign trail in Kirinyaga County to reduce the minimum NHIF contribution from Sh500 to Sh300 and offer waivers to low-income households.
He then explained that the waivers will be granted to those who are unable to pay the monthly rates in order to ensure that the country achieves universal healthcare service.
The NHIF Amendment Bill was signed into law in January of this year and went into effect the following month.
The Amendment Act amends the NHIF Act to require persons over the age of 18 who are not yet registered with NHIF to register and contribute to NHIF, a statutory insurance fund that provides Kenyans with access to medical services.
According to the Act, every employer is required to contribute on behalf of their employees.
It states that it is the employer’s responsibility to make employee contributions by matching the employee’s contribution in an amount equal to what the employee is obligated to pay without deducting it from the employee’s remuneration.
This means that the employer must deduct the necessary contributions based on the employees’ gross salary according to the NHIF rates and make an additional contribution equal to the amount deducted from the employee, though it states that an employer who provides his employees with private health insurance, as well as better health benefits than those provided by NHIF, is exempt from paying the matching contribution.
This means that the employer can do so by applying to the NHIF Board for an exemption and attaching a certificate from the Insurance Regulation Authority to be exempt from paying the matching contribution.
The act also states that the certificate must state the benefits of the coverage as well as the duration of the coverage.
