More than 660 hospitals are once again threatening to withdraw outpatient services for members of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to protest a mismatch in capitation rates and delays in signing contracts.
The facilities under faith-based organisations and the Rural Private Hospitals Association (RUPHA) say NHIF branch offices are asking for invoices quoting Sh1,000 rather than the agreed Sh1,400 per beneficiary per year.
The other grievance of the healthcare providers is that the insurer is yet to distribute physical contracts for the 2022-2024 cycle. The group says its members are also yet to receive funds for the second month of the quarter.
The consortium has given the NHIF until today to address their concerns failure to which they warn health services will suffer.
Capitation, just as is in the case of schools, is paid in advance and is based on the number of NHIF members assigned to a particular health facility.
For a country that is pushing for universal health coverage, such complaints may discourage investors in the sector from signing up with the NHIF.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
