New NHIF Rates: Kenyans who earn above Sh. 100,000 will soon start to pay between Sh. 1,700 and Sh. 8,500 every end of the month to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). This is according to fresh regulations by the national health insurance provider that will guide new NHIF rates.
According to the regulations, you will pay a minimum of 1.7 per cent if you earn Sh. 100,000 flat. This will however increase according to your pay up until the Sh. 200,000 mark. This means that a Kenyan earning Sh. 100,000 and a Kenyan earning Sh. 199,999 will both pay a rate of 1.7 per cent to the NHIF. Previously, employees who are earning over Sh. 100,000 have been paying a fixed monthly contribution of Sh. 1,700.
Under the new regulations, those who earn Sh. 200, 000 will see their rates double to Sh. 3,400 per month. Those who make Sh. 500, 000 will cough up Sh. 8,500 every month.
This will be the latest pay review by the NHIF after the review of 2015. In 2015, the NHIF raised contributions from Sh. 320 to a graduated scale of between Sh. 500 and Sh. 1,700 per month based on monthly pay.
A few months ago, the government had announced that it would introduce a plan that would compel every Kenyan above the age of 18 to start paying the NHIF Sh. 6,000 per year. NHIF has however been facing sustained criticism from Kenyans over its health coverage. Kenyans who have been paying the lowest minimum amount of Sh. 500 have been complained over being turned away at hospitals.
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Additionally, the NHIF is locked in a tiff with private hospitals who have threatened to stop accepting NHIF cards by June 2022. This is after the NHIF’s decision to slash the amount of money it pays out for certain services. For instance, the NHIF recently slashed the money it pays for dialysis sessions. In a previous structure, NHIF would pay Sh. 9,500 for each dialysis session. Dialysis patients require at least two sessions a week. In the new structure, the NHIF has said that it will pay Sh. 6,500 per session. Private hospitals have protested this move and said that they stand to lose at least Sh. 6,000 per patient per week.
According to the Economic Survey report, NHIF membership had risen from 4.4 million Kenyans to 8.4 million people from 2013 to the start of 2020.