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JUST IN… NHIF Mandatory To All Kenyans. National Assembly Passes Bill.
Households in Kenya will now be required to make a monthly contribution of Ksh 500 with the National Hospital Insurance Fund after the National Assembly assented to the NHIF (Amendment) Bill No. 21 of 2021.
The bill by Majority Leader Amos Kimunya makes it mandatory for any person who has attained the age of 18 years to contribute to be a member of NHIF as the Government streamlines access to quality health care.
Employers were however spared after the House dismissed an amendment compelling them to make an equal contribution for their employees to the fund.
Employers with workers earning less than Ks12,000 will however be forced to top up their contributions to the NHIF and will face severe charges if they fail to do so.
Kimunya said the bill brings all Kenyans on board from the employed to the unemployed as they seek to implement the universal health coverage program under NHIF bill.
JUST IN… NHIF Mandatory To All Kenyans. National Assembly Passes Bill. Photo Courtesy
Members of Parliament also adopted categories and different rates for self-employed Kenyans, with Kimunya saying it will ensure a self-contributor without a family pays a different rate than one with a family.
And while employers under the Federation of Kenya Employers had petitioned Parliament to reject the amendments, MPs were unanimous on the need to bring everybody on board a public health insurance system that will guarantee all a chance to live a decent life regardless of their social status.
The MPs rejected amendments by the National Assembly Committee on Health seeking to force the National and County Governments to foot bills for poor households in the Country.
The amendments will now see the fund converted from a Hospital Insurancee to Health Insurance.
It will come as a sigh of relief for Deputy President William Ruto who had urged Members of Parliament to stand up and be counted during debate on the NHIF Amendment bill.
Ruto had argued that the NHIF bill was four years behind schedule saying, “I make this plea on behalf of millions of hustlers and Kenyans at large who will be beneficiaries of the scheme.”
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