The Cabinet has allocated Sh6.5 billion to finance a plan that will from January give those above 70 years a monthly pay and free medical cover, irrespective of their income level.
The pay is intended to ease the suffering of the elderly who will also get a National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) cover, which will cost taxpayers Sh500 monthly for each.
The previous cash transfer project initiated in 2012 targeted individuals above 65 years living in extreme poverty.
Better healthcare has seen life expectancy in the country rise even as the elderly lack a pension plan. It gets worse if they live in urban areas where the cost of living is quite high.
Kenya has about 774,000 people aged 70 and above, figures from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) show.
A World Health Organisation (WHO) report of 2015 estimates life expectancy in Kenya at 63.
