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But on arrival on Tuesday, the two were informed that their NHIF card was no longer valid and they would have to pay in cash to access the life saving service.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.”