Doctors in private practice must now cut their charges by 20 per cent after the Ministry of Health adopted recommendations made by the public last week.
The recommendations have been forwarded to the National Assembly’s Committee on Health, who had complained the current charges are too high.
The 20 per cent reduction will be effected on both the minimum and maximum charges once the new fees have been gazetted.
Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki thanked doctors saying they have essentially made a 41 per cent cut when inflation is factored in.
“In essence, based on the inflation for the past three years, the 2016 fees would ideally have increased by a minimum of 21 per cent. To this end, the goodwill of doctors in the process of supporting universal health coverage by improving access by assuring affordability, cannot go unappreciated,” she said yesterday in a statement.
The minimum and maximum fees that doctors in private practice can charge for medical procedures are set by the 2016 professional fees guidelines for medical and dental practitioners.
Health Committee chairperson Sabina Chege wrote to the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board on November 19, 2018, asking for the review of the fees to support the Universal Health Coverage.
Specialists will now charge between Sh2,880 and Sh6,000 for consultation, instead of the current Sh3,600 up to Sh7,500.
Doctors currently charge between Sh20,000 and Sh40,000 to remove an ingrown toe. But they will soon charge between Sh18,000 and Sh32,000.
For circumcision of babies, doctors will charge up to Sh48,000 instead of Sh60,000.
CS Kariuki said a team comprising all institutions under the ministry and external stakehlders will soon meet to work on a comprehensive review of all components contributing to the cost of healthcare in Kenya.