As the lead partner, Safaricom is responsible for overseeing the project’s coordination and ensuring all consortium partners fulfil their obligations.
Govt Cornered Over SHIF Preparedness
Meanwhile, uncertainty emerged over the rollout of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) on Tuesday, October 1 following details on gaps in the Means Testing Instrument (MTI) in determining the annual premium contribution for informal sector households.
It emerged that the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the SHIF conducted a pilot project in eight counties in the informal sector populace to determine the 2.75 percent of income contribution.
The National Assembly Health Committee raised issues with the accuracy of the MTI system following revelations that a total sample size of 2,000 Kenyans in the informal sector was subjected to the test across the eight counties.
“We conducted the Means Testing Instrument in eight counties and the data that we have is accurate and we assure you we will not have the same issues we are facing in the education sector,” acting chairman of Social Health Authority Abdi Mohammed disclosed.
Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa defended the system under the new national insurance fund saying they are tamper-proof and will ultimately address issues that have faced access to affordable health care.
The MTI pilot project was conducted in Turkana, Tana River, Narok, Migori, Bungoma, Bomet, Kiambu and Nairobi which has so far encompassed 17 variables to determine the lowest and highest contribution in the informal sector households.
