Court extends order halting roll-out of higher NHIF rates
Medical Services Minister, Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o (right) with the NHIF acting CEO, Mr Simeon Ole Kirgotty, during a press conference in Nairobi on September 14, when they said the revised NHIF contribution rates will take effect from this month.
What you need to know:
- A workers umbrella organisation representing Banking, Insurance and Finance union says that their members’ health insurance cover has been negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement and the employers already pay for it.
- In effect, if the new rates are put in place, there will be a big impact on their salaries given that they are already highly taxed.
- However, the lobby will only know whether its application has been accepted after all the parties have given their position regarding the application.
The push by the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to effect new medical care rates suffered a fresh blow after a court extended an order stopping its implementation.
The High Court has extended an order granted to the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (Kudheiha) blocking a directive by the national insurer requiring employers to start remitting the revised rates this month.
In the proposed rates, the lowest paid worker — earning Sh6,000 is set to contribute Sh150 per month while the highest paid employee — with a salary of over Sh100,000 will be deducted Sh2,000 monthly.
Move opposed
The self-employed workers and volunteers will contribute Sh500 and Sh300 respectively under the new scheme to the fund.
The move to roll out the higher rates has, however, been opposed by both employees and employer lobby groups. Read (New NHIF clinics list rejected)
Through lawyer Charles Ongoto, Kudheiha is challenging implementation of the new rates, saying, the NHIF board, Medical Services Minister Anyang’ Nyongo’ and Labour Minister John Munyes were intending to enforce the enhanced NHIF rates without consultations.
Kudheiha noted that workers will be worst hit because the higher rates will see them pay more, yet they are grappling with hard economic times at the moment.
Industrial court judge Nzioki Wa Makau on Thursday extended the orders and directed that all the parties in the case file their responses by October 25.
The national health insurer has filed its response to the application by Kudheiha, but the Medical Services Minister, his Labour counterpart and the Attorney-General are yet to respond.
At the same time, another lobby — Banking, Insurance and Finance Union (BIFU) — has also filed to be enjoined in the case, saying that they represent about 15,000 members, who may suffer an extra burden with the new cover rates.
