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A medics body has locked horns with the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) over plans to scrap off their board positions.
Kenya Medical Association (KMA) is protesting the ongoing amendments of the NHIF Act that will see the association, as well as Central Organisation of Trade Union(Cotu) have no say in the how the insurer’s board manages Sh30 billion it collects every year.
The amendments are contained in a bill yet to be published, but will not need public participation to sail through. This means KMA and other bodies will have no opportunity to scrutinise it.
Consequently, the association has threatened to paralyse the ongoing fast tracked enrolment to NHIF if the amendments go through.
The association’s President Dr Jacqueline Kitulu has described the amendments as ‘mischievous’ whose aim is to muzzle the voice that speaks for majority of the beneficiaries of the social health insurer.
Other director positions in the board to be scrapped off are that of teachers union currently held by Kenya National Union of Teachers Mudzo Nzili, faith based organisation represented by Mr Lattif Shaban and Federation of Kenya Employers Ms Gilda Odera.
“It is mischievous to contemplate such serious amendments to the Act through a miscellaneous amendment instead of bringing a substantive amendment bill to the house with sufficient public participation,” said Kitulu.
Kitulu said the move to kick out the five directors only seeks to get rid of the watchdogs of the funds.
“We urge the National Assembly to reject any amendments to the Act should they be tabled, until enough consultation has been done,” added Kitulu.
If this does not happen, then the KMA President said the association will rally all the health workers and dental practitioners against enrollment to NHIF.
The current NHIF Act has been described by the insurer boss Geoffrey Mwangi to be old and needs some life to align it with the Universal Health Care plan as one of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda for his second term.
It is through these amendments of the 1998 Act will have power over the plan to have secondary school children insured-in a Sh4 billion programme that has already been launched, as well as expand its services to cover other chronic illnesses.
The last amendment made to NHIF Act was in April 2015 that saw the statutory contributions for formal workers go up from a flat rate of Sh320 a month to Sh1, 700.
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