State set to issue SHA rates for vulnerable households

Health CS Aden Duale speaks after a meeting with the Council of Governors/MoH

The Ministry of Health is set to give standardised guidelines for the payment of money to cover indigent and vulnerable households in the implementation of Universal Health Coverage.

The ministry has committed to give the guidelines by April 28, following deliberations with the Council of Governors.

The guidelines will enable counties to factor the allocations into their annual workplans and budgets for the upcoming financial year.

“They will be identified jointly by the Ministry of Health, Council of Governors, and State Department of Social Protection and paid jointly by the two levels of government,” a statement jointly signed by Health CS Aden Duale and CoG vice chairperson Mutahi Kahiga reads.

In the statement, Kahiga noted that health service delivery is the largest of the devolved functions.

“We therefore have an immense responsibility on our shoulders, which requires wide consultations, collaborations, and partnerships for us to meet our common objective of delivering quality, affordable, and accessible healthcare to every Kenyan,” he said.

The Council of Governors meeting with the Ministry of Health on Thursday was a follow-up forum on the implementation of universal health coverage.

The meeting deliberated on key issues including the Building Resilient and Responsive Health Systems (BREHS) project, implementation of the Assistive Technology (AT) scale project in counties, the clinical waste microwave waste management project, postgraduate training and payment of registrar fees, and implementation of the Social Health Insurance (SHI) Act, 2023.

The government is seeking to extend the Social Health Authority (SHA) medical cover to poor households across the country.

The State Department for Social Protection will leverage its existing databases, including the Social Registry and the Inua Jamii cash transfer program, to identify the poorest households across Kenya.

These households will be selected for the SHA medical cover after their information is validated by the SHA.

Once implemented, the medical cover will be available to qualifying households for a duration of 12 months. This move is part of the government’s ongoing efforts to improve access to healthcare for vulnerable communities.