•The Ministry of Health has backed the proposal, saying emergency care should be provided in both public and private health facilities.
•Kenyans have over the years been treated with stories of families agonising at the detention of bodies of their loved ones.
Image: Alice Waithera
Public and private hospitals that detain bodies over non-payment of medical bills could soon be compelled to pay Sh2 million fine or have their owners jailed for one year.
In the same vein, private and public hospitals that demand advance payments before admitting a patient could be compelled to pay Sh3 million fine or their owners jailed for two years.
The proposals are contained in the Health (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that has been approved by the National Assembly's Health committee.
The bill seeks to boost access to healthcare and end the suffering of families who cannot bury their loved ones over hospital bills.
The committee, chaired by Murang'a Woman MP Sabina Chege, has recommended that MPs pass the bill sponsored by Bumula MP Moses Mabonga.
“A person in charge of a health facility commits an offence if the person demands or permits the demand of payment of advance medical fees or admission fees prior to providing emergency medical care, and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh3 million or to imprisonment for a term of two years,” the proposed law reads.
For detained bodies, MPs have provided that, “a person in charge of a health facility commits an offence if the person detains or permits the detention of the body of a deceased person for purposes of enforcing settlement of pending bills.”
The bill is due for the second reading.
It also seeks to provide that the national and county governments establish regional cancer centres through the existing intergovernmental relations mechanisms.
It proposes that authorities draw regulations on “levying of charges on the practice of conventional medicine in consultation with relevant statutory bodies and stakeholders".
This is to set a standard benchmark for costing of services offered to patients who seek medical attention in private and public health facilities.
“The committee, having considered the bill, recommends that the House approves the same with amendments as proposed,” the team said in its report tabled in Parliament recently.
Initially, the bill proposed three months imprisonment for those convicted of a crime arising from the proposed legislation, but it was enhanced by lawmakers.
“The amendment seeks to ensure that the term of imprisonment to be imposed for demanding advance payment before emergency treatment or detaining dead bodies shall be proportional to the amount of monetary fine that may be imposed,” the Chege-led team said.
The Ministry of Health has backed the proposal, saying emergency care should be provided in both public and private facilities as provided in the Health Act.
“The requirement not to detain dead bodies in health facilities due to non-payment of hospital bills should apply to both public and private health facilities,” the ministry said in its submission to the House committee.
Kenyans have over the years been treated with stories of families agonising after the bodies of their loved ones were detained due to non-payment of pending bills.
In 2017, a patient committed suicide at a major referral hospital for being unable to pay medical bills, eliciting condemnation by human rights groups.
In 2019, Kenyatta National Hospital released 258 patients who had been detained over outstanding debts – a report the hospital denied, saying they had been discharged but were yet to settle their dues.
The Constitution guarantees every citizen the highest attainable standards of healthcare, with the supreme law, saying a person shall not be denied the right to emergency medical treatment.
Justice Wilfrida Okwany in a 2018 ruling, said it is illegal to detain a patient over bills. This followed a case by a man whose son had been detained at a city hospital.
“I am not convinced that an illegal detention of a patient is one of the avenues for debt recovery within our legal system…the question is; how long will the hospital be expected to hold the patient,” she said.
Edited by A.N