Gov’t Issues New Orders to Hospitals Over NHIF Cards.
Gov’t Issues New Orders to Hospitals Over NHIF Cards: The Competition Authority of Kenya has ordered the Rural Private Hospital Association of Kenya (RUPHA) to allow patients to access treatment using the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) card
This comes after RUPHA’s decision in December 2023, where members were instructed to either reject or reduce the acceptance of NHIF cardholders due to unpaid remittances from the Government.
The Competition Authority has now issued a cease and desist order, directing RUPHA to immediately stop the implementation of this policy.
The notice read,”RUPHA, its agents and members are directed to, with immediate effect, cease and desist from implementing the said circular and refrain from making further recommendations regarding prices, fees and terms of trade to any class of its members until the ongoing investigation is concluded and the Authority pronounces itself,”
The directive is in line with Section 37 of the Competition Act which provides that CAK may issue a cease and desist in any undertaking that could cause irreparable damage or hurt the public interest pending the conclusion of the investigations.
Associations affiliated with private hospitals including RUPHA and the Kenya Association of Private Hospitals (KAPH) had already pulled out of NHIF owing to billions of shillings in debt.
Apparently, NHIF owed members Ksh2.3 billion for general claims, Ksh2 billion for the Linda Mama program and Ksh1.8 billion for outpatient.
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