Chairman of Rural and Urban Private Hospital Association Dr Brian Lishenga (left) and his Kenya Association of Private Hospitals counterpart.
The government is yet to pay billions that the now defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) owed to hospitals, nearly two months after promises by President William Ruto, and later by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale.
The Kenya Association of Private Hospitals (KAPH) and Rural & Urban Private Hospitals Association (RUPHA) now say that they are still in the dark, as there has been no communication from the government on their debts.
President Ruto in March said all claims below Sh10 million would be cleared, and those above that threshold would be sent to a verification committee, which would then suggest payment plans for legitimate debt.
Payment of claims below Sh10 million, President Ruto and Mr Duale added, would settle debts owed to 91 per cent of facilities that the NHIF contracted.
The verification committee was to finish its job within 30 days of being set up following complaints of unpaid debt after NHIF was replaced by the Social Health Authority.
Mr Duale formed the James Masiro-led verification committee on March 28 through a gazette notice. The Health CS then inaugurated the committee on 8 April and launched it nine days later.
“Hospitals with claims below Sh10 million will be paid without delay, while the remaining 9 per cent, whose claims exceed Sh10 million, will undergo a thorough verification exercise within 90 days, after which a payment plan will be agreed upon for all genuine claims,” Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said during the launch.
But the verification committee is yet to get to work, which could mean further delays in confirming the legitimate hospital claims that are above Sh10 million.
KAPH chairperson Eric Musau on Friday told the Nation that hospitals have not been told which claims below Sh10 million were to be paid immediately.
Some of the claims below Sh10 million were still at the processing stage, while others had already been pushed upstairs to the payments office at the time NHIF was disbanded in October 2024.
“Unfortunately, since the President made the announcement (on payment of claims below Sh10 million), we have not got any communication from the Ministry of Health. The only information that has come out is the gazettement of the verification committee. Maybe it (the payment delays) is the changes of officials at the ministry and Social Health Authority.
“We are currently working only on the President’s goodwill and are trying to accommodate them (government). Under the old (NHIF) system, you would raise an invoice and the (processing) office would verify the claim and then push it to the payments office. So the question is, are the claims of Sh10 million and under being paid the ones that were at the processing office or the payments office?” Dr Musau said.
Hospitals had raised claims of Sh33 billion at the time the NHIF was declared redundant by the coming in of the Social Health Authority (SHA). Those debts accumulated between July 2022 and September 2024.
“By the time the NHIF was wound up on 22 November 2024, it had a whopping debt of KSh33 billion, affecting the ability of health facilities to provide services under the Social Health Authority (SHA),” President Ruto said in his 5 March statement.
A day after the statement, faith-based hospitals gave the government a 14-day ultimatum to pay up or they would down their tools. They backed out of the threat following a meeting with Ruto.
Rupha chairperson Brian Lishenga said his members are also unaware of what is happening. Dr Lishenga said the government could be trying to kick the debt into the 2025/26 financial year, which would allow the Health and Treasury ministries to accommodate the debts in the budget.
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