Heads of faith-based and private hospitals have asked Health CS Mutahi Kagwe to resolve a year-long delay by the National Hospital Insurance Fund to contract their facilities.
They say in a letter the process stalled in 2018 and more than 300 health facilities are still waiting for their contracts.
The affected faith-based facilities are owned by the Catholic Church and protestant churches through the Christian Health Association of Kenya.
Kaph secretary-general Dr Abdi Mohammed told the Star they have been waiting since 2018.
“This means you may have a hospital in your neighbourhood, whose service you cannot enjoy unless you’re ready to pay out of pocket,” he said.
“For the hospitals, other companies and private insurers cannot come on board unless you first have a contract with NHIF.”
He said the Kenya Health Professionals Oversight Authority (KHPOA), which now inspects and accredits health facilities on behalf of NHIF, gazetted them last year.
“What remains is for NHIF to draw contrasts with the facilities,” Dr Abdi said.
NHIF CEO Dr Peter Kamunyo, who joined the fund in April, told the Star this process is ongoing.
“Even after gazettement by KHPOA we still have to assess the facilities individually before we empanel them because each contract is distinct and is tailored to the specific services each facility provides,” he said.
“We also negotiate prices for different services individually with each facility.”
He said the fund has already contracted at least 8,000 facilities across the country.
“The list of contracted facilities is dynamic to address the needs of our members and ensure they get value for their money,” Kamunyo said.
However, he admitted there were delays, which the fund is working to reduce.
“We are digitising the process so that by the end of the year, facilities will submit all required documents online and they can trace the process digitally,” he said.
Last week, Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi told the National Assembly Health Committee that NHIF had doubled the number of facilities from 4,281 in 2017 to 8,189 in 2020.
“The total number of healthcare providers empanelled with NHIF has increased to 8,189 as at June 2020 where 99 per cent of all government healthcare providers are declared with NHIF,” she told MPs.
“NHIF beneficiaries all over the country can, therefore, access services from this wide network of service points,” she said.
Early last year, in reforms brought by former Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki, NHIF ceded the power to vet service providers, to KHPOA.
CS Kariuki said health facilities would be reviewed in terms of qualifications of the staff, physical location, size, number of patients, specialists and other services on offer.