More Kenyans continue to embrace the government’s new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
Data from the Ministry of Health shows that so far, 18.5 million Kenyans have registered to the fund.
SHIF replaced the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and started operating from December 1, 2024.
To benefit from the new Fund, all Kenyans were to register afresh under the Social Health Authority.
According to the latest data, over 276,000 Kenyans registered to the authority within the last one week.
The data further shows that from the total individuals registered, there are over 3.9 million dependants.
“Mombasa county’s SHA registration rose by 58%, now covering 43.5 percent of the population,” the Ministry of Health said.
Under the new health scheme, a salaried Kenyan contributes 2.75 percent of his/her gross salary to SHA monthly.
The employer contributes the same aamount month.
For Kenyans in the informal sector, once they register, they are required to go through means testing to know the amount of money they are supposed to pay monthly.
Last week, the Ministry of Health said over 2.5 million Kenyans had already undergone the process and given an average contribution of Ksh 602.
There has been concerns over the new scheme with some Kenyans complaining of frequent system failures.
The government however insists SHIF is far better than NHIF.
