The Kenya Kwanza government’s ambitious six-month-old Taifa Care initiative has also attained its mid-term milestone.
The initiative, which aims to provide all Kenyans with equitable, high-quality, and reasonably priced healthcare, is a fundamental component of President William Ruto’s agenda.
The Kenya Kwanza administration launched the Social Health Authority’s (SHA) universal health care program six months ago.
The government prepared the framework for SHA’s introduction by enacting laws in 2023 to serve as its anchor.
The Emergency, Critical, and Chronic Illnesses Fund, the tax-funded Primary Healthcare Fund, and the contributory Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) are the three main funds that support the Taifa Care program.
Non-salaried Kenyans pay an equivalent annual sum to SHIF, while salaried Kenyans donate 2.75% of their monthly gross income.
The goal of this program is to make healthcare accessible, high-quality, and reasonably priced for everyone.
Taifa Care has encountered numerous challenges in spite of the ambitious rollout that took place in October of last year.
Many Kenyans still report out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare, undermining the program’s core objective. The initial challenge was onboarding the public due to system inefficiencies. However, once these were addressed, the government managed to increase registrations to nearly 20 million, a notable rise from those enrolled in the now-defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). A major concern remains the low contribution levels. Of the 20 million registered, only three million actively pay premiums, which continues to hamper service delivery. Stakeholders argue that SHIF is the only fund demonstrating some level of success.
However, due to budgetary limitations, private healthcare providers have stopped providing credit services to SHA-registered patients until Ksh 30 billion in NHIF arrears have been paid.
Concerns over the program’s operation were raised by Roselyne Murunga, Chair of the Health NGOs Network (HENNET):
“We have to ask why something isn’t working.” The challenge of balancing benefit packages with premiums is still urgent.
The government claims that coverage has improved, especially for inpatient, critical, and chronic care. The lack of assistance for treatment abroad, however, continues to raise concerns.
Additionally, SHA is fighting claims of financial mismanagement, especially with reference to its digital infrastructure. The government spent Ksh 104.9 billion on the digital system without thoroughly examining important contractual provisions, according to a report by the Auditor General.
The government allegedly lost control of important system components as a result. The administration has, however, vehemently denied these allegations.
The government has made significant progress in increasing healthcare services in spite of these obstacles.
By expanding screenings for lifestyle diseases and maternal health coverage at the local level, the Community Health Promoters program has improved preventive healthcare.
Underfunding is still the fundamental issue, though. Although the government only allotted Ksh 6.1 billion for SHA, Taifa Care was originally estimated to cost Ksh 168 billion.
In order to continue the program for the rest of this fiscal year and beyond, the Ministry of Health is now asking for more funding.
