Written By Gerald Gekara | |
Beginning Monday, some members of the National Health Insurance Fund may be denied access to private hospitals.
The Kenya Association of Private Hospitals has stated that they are unable to accept the fund’s drastically decreased prices.
NHIF has failed to honor talks with the facilities, according to KAPH chairman Dr Abdi Mohamed.
The rates were supposed to go into effect in December of last year, but NHIF put them on hold in a letter dated December 30 to give healthcare providers more time to study their contracts before signing.
“As a result of several requests from healthcare providers for additional time to analyze contracts,” NHIF CEO Peter Kamunyo said.
“The fund has decided to extend your contract for one month, beginning January 1 and ending January 31, 2022.”
They haven’t signed the contracts yet, according to Dr. Abdi, because the new fees haven’t been taken into account.
For example, the fund has lowered dialysis compensation from Sh9,500 per session to Sh6,500 per session for two sessions per week.
In addition, Abdi stated that most private hospitals will only be compensated Sh20,000 for a caesarean section.
Earlier this week, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe complained that the NHIF was overpaying private hospitals, blaming it on medical fraud and beneficiary impersonation.
According to Kagwe, claims by contracted facilities increased from Sh19.7 billion in the 2015/2016 fiscal year to Sh54.6 billion in the 2020/2021 fiscal year.
The National Hospital Insurance Fund Amendment Bill 2021, which was passed by MPs on December 21 and is now pending President Uhuru Kenyatta’s signature, authorizes the fund to review rates paid to contracted facilities every two years.
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