CS Nakhumicha addresses EduAfya termination concerns, Gives a way forward.
CS Nakhumicha addresses EduAfya termination concerns: Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha has explained what is expected to be done when EduAfya Medical Scheme becomes dysfunctional and the Social Health Insurance Act, 2023 becomes operational.
The CS outlined that the Sh4.6 billion allocated to the scheme will now be transferred to the Primary Healthcare Fund where learners will now be covered alongside their households.
She stated,”All students are going to be covered under their households because it does not make sense to cover a student who comes from a household then the rest of the household is not covered.”
The EduAfya Medical Scheme became operational in May 2018 following a directive from former President Uhuru Kenyatta, where it covered learners in public secondary schools across the country.
This facilitated by the Ministry of Education through the Free Day Secondary Education which paid premiums for over 3.4 million learners.
However, with the New Social health insurance fund( SHIF), NHIF Chief Executive Officer Elijah Wachira told the National Assembly Petitions Committee that NHIF would terminate all service provider contracts under EduAfya by December 31, 2023
He stated,”By the end of the year, NHIF will run down all the contracts it had with the Ministry of Education and therefore they will have to look for a new service provider.”
However, the court had stopped implementation of the Social Health Insurance Act, 2023, the Primary Health Care Act, 2023 and the Digital Health Act, 2023 pending the hearing of a case on February 7, 2024.
Justice Chacha Mwita ruled that the petition filed by Joseph Aura raises important constitutional and legal questions that deserve urgent and serious pounding over.
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