Gov't increases SHA benefits for Cancer patients, adds real-time claims tracking

The Ministry of Health has increased benefits in the Social Health Authority (SHA) in its quest to provide Universal Health Coverage and restore public confidence in the new system.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ministry said it had increased the High Dependency Unit (HDU)/Intensive Care Unit (ICU) coverage 6-fold from the current Ksh.4,600 to Ksh.28,000. 

This, according to Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa who addressed the press, would ensure protection from paying for the services in cash.

Further, the oncology care package was expanded from Ksh.400,000 to Ksh.550,000 per household to make the treatment more affordable. 

"These improvements reinforce our commitment to delivering a comprehensive and financially sustainable health system," the CS noted in a press addess.

Since its rollout five months ago, SHA has been riddled with problems affecting the system and thus leading to poor service delivery.

The CS explained that her ministry was taking the necessary steps to address the challenges. 

To provide better-coordinated care for patients who use different hospitals, the ministry will onboard 15 high-volume hospitals onto the Health Information Exchange (HIE) system to allow seamless sharing of patient data.

Further, a dedicated 24-hour call center will be established to provide real-time assistance to patients and healthcare providers.

The ministry will also launch nationwide training on claims processing to equip health workers with the skills needed to speed up processing and ensure timely payments.

The claim payments will be tracked using a tracker dashboard that will allow health facilities and county governments to monitor claims in real time.

"We urge all healthcare providers to ensure timely and accurate submission of claims, which will speed up reimbursements and maintain seamless service delivery," CS Barasa noted.

She assured the public that the technical issues bedeviling the system would be resolved soon. 

According to the ministry, over 500,000 Kenyans have since benefited from SHA, while over 18 million have registered.