The Health Cabinet Secretary, Adan Duale, has put hospitals on notice, ordering immediate refunds to civil servants who are unlawfully charged out-of-pocket fees for services covered under the Social Health Authority (SHA) package.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

CS Duale issued the warning on June 10 during the nationwide rollout of SHA in Nairobi, saying that any health facility demanding unauthorised cash payments from public officers for SHA-covered services risks immediate suspension.

The CS made clear that the era of uncontrolled co-payments is over, sending a clear message to health facilities perpetuating unlawful acts against public servants that they will also face suspensions and possible closures.

“Any facility demanding unauthorised cash from our public officers for services covered under the approved package will face immediate suspension and be compelled to issue full refunds,” warned CS Duale.

📌 What You Need to Know

His directive comes as SHA finalises in-service tariffs for registered users, providing the authority with a clear, enforceable reimbursement framework for the first time.

With those contracts now in place, SHA can hold providers directly accountable to agreed rates, pre-authorisation requirements, and basic clinical requirements going forward.

“Through the execution of these contracts, SHA now has a clear reimbursement framework, and we will hold providers accountable to agreed rates, pre-authorisation requirements, and clinical standards,” stressed Duale.

Beyond protecting patients, Duale stressed the equal importance of protecting the public officers' fund from waste, misuse, and fraud within the healthcare system.

To tackle fraud at the entry point, SHA officially expanded its biometric registration exercise to include dependents aged 7 to 17.

This rollout will expand SHA’s coverage nationwide, building on a system that already serves over 25 million Kenyans registered in the SHA biometric database and has thousands of devices active in hospitals nationwide.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke