The Education Ministry wants all school-going children to register their details with the new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) scheme before schools reopen next week.
Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said learners are required to register as dependents of their parents in the new scheme—which is set to replace the present National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF)-- before schools reopen for term three.
“Registration of Kenyans to the Social Health Insurance Fund commenced on July 1, 2024, as a key enabler towards the realisation of Universal Health Coverage,” the PS said.
“All school-going children are therefore required to register as dependents of their parents before school opening dates for third term 2024,” he added a circular to regional and County directors of education dated August 16, 2024.
The new development offers a major sigh of relief to thousands of learners who were left without health cover after the State ended the Sh4.5 billion schools’ insurance scheme EduAfya, leaving more than 3.4 million learners without a cover.
Following the abolition of the cover for school-going children, the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association urged the government to ensure the continuity of the programme that came to an end on December 31, 2023.
The students will now be covered under SHIF.
Under the scheme, all Kenyans aged above 18 will be required to make mandatory contributions to the SHIF, with billions of shillings marked for financing the universal health coverage (UHC).
The scheme will see Kenyan workers start paying 2.75 percent of their gross monthly to the SHIF from October 1, a move that will see contributions for top earners rise by more than eight times in an economy where the take-home of many salaried workers has shrunk due to the high cost of inflation.
Kenyans with no source of income will also be compelled to pay at least Sh 300 every month to the SHIF as the state targets a vast funding pool to finance UHC.
Section 47 of the SHIF requires that digitisation and processes be carried out using appropriate, reliable, secure, interoperable, verifiable, and responsive technology through an information system.
The processes and services include registration of members, identification of members, contributions to the fund, empanelment of facilities, execution of contracts, identification of members, notification, and pre-authorisation, claims management, and settlement of claims.
It further states that every Kenyan shall be uniquely identified for health service delivery, and the digitisation of processes and services shall comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2019 and all other relevant laws.
