SHA transition: Pain of patients as hospitals reject NHIF cards, demand cash payments
Hundreds of
chronic illness patients across the country had a tough time on Tuesday trying
to access cancer and dialysis treatments, as most facilities rejected NHIF cards
and demanded for cash payments.
A spot check
by Citizen TV revealed the agony of cash strapped patients seeking dialyses
stranded in hospitals, as they scrambled to raise the required cash for their
treatments.
At Kisii
Level 5 Hospital, Peter Mokaya brought his wife Diana Ambasa for her weekly
dialysis appointment. Diana has been using her NHIF card to access dialysis
twice a week.
But on
arrival on Tuesday, the two were informed that their NHIF card was no longer
valid and they would have to pay in cash to access the life saving service.
“Tumefika
hapa tunaambiwa ati kadi yetu ya NHIF haifanyi kazi so nitoe pesa.. Dialysis ni
Ksh.9,000 na pia ninunue catheter, total ni Ksh.22,000 na wamesema lazima
ninunue hiyo ndio bibi yangu atibiwe. Kesho pia lazima nitoe Ksh.9,000,”
lamented Mokaya.
Diana
stated: “For the last two years nimekuwa nikitumia kadi yangu ya NHIF…sasa leo
sijapata huduma. Sasa tutafanya aje na sisi maisha inategema hiyo?”
Diana’s
plight is similar to that of hundreds of patients across the country whose
lives now hang in the balance, as the transition from NHIF to the Social Health
Insurance Fund (SHIF) took effect on Tuesday.
In Garissa,
dialysis patients were left stranded despite assurance by SHA CEO Elijah
Wachira that the services would not be disrupted.
Swaleh Salim,
a patient, said: “Nilikuwa natumia NHIF na sasa nimeandikishwa kwa SHIF. Nafaa
kufanya dialysis 3 times a week, serikali iingilie sababu hatuna pesa.”
The roll out,
which has been a subject of many court cases, has witnessed a slow uptake, as Kenyans
seeking to register to the scheme encountered technical challenges, and prompts
to try again later.
Facility
managers who declined to speak on camera for fear of victimization blamed the
government for lack of sufficient training and technical support to carry out
the roll out.
A hospital
manager at a level 4 facility in Nairobi also said most hospitals are hesitant
to sign the new SHA contracts, as the now defunct NHIF still owes them millions
of shillings in unpaid payments.
At the Mbagathi
level 5 hospital, the facility’s CE Dr. Alex Irungu said they’re offering
treatment to all NHIF card holders, and has partnered with community health
promoters to help patients register for SHA.
The CEO said
the hospital has encountered some technical challenges moving to the new model.
“The biggest
challenge we have is making the transition. We have an ICT problem but we have
raised it with SHA and they are handling it. In the meantime, we won’t turn away
any patients, and are helping them register and store the data in our hospital
information management system.”
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