The government has reiterated its commitment to settle accrued debts incurred by the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) through the new Social Health Authority (SHA).

President William Ruto promised to disburse Ksh.3.7 billion on Friday, as some of the payments owed to health facilities including public, private and faith-based medical facilities.

Speaking during his State of the Nation Address in Parliament, Ruto said the lump sum would be used to reduce the historical debts owed by the government in the last decade in a move he says will boost confidence in the healthcare system after a rocky transition.

“Over the past month, we have disbursed Ksh.5 billion to settle historical debts owed to public, private and faith-based medical facilities, some of which have been pending for over a decade, and another Ksh. 3.7 billion will be disbursed tomorrow,” he said.

“This underscores our commitment to ensuring uninterrupted delivery of healthcare services, and we will continue to clear the remaining balances in a phased-out approach over the coming months. This sustained effort aims to restore confidence in the healthcare system, and ensure seamless access to quality services.”

The remarks by the president follow continued uproar by medical facilities who have accused the current administration of unwillingness to settle debts amounting to billions.

Last week, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops decried government frustration in the health system saying that Ksh.19 billion debt had not been settled.

Health Cabinet Secretary Debra Barasa came out in defence of the Ministry saying that so far, Ksh.7.58 billion had been set aside to pay the debt, adding that as of October 2024, Ksh. 7.58 billion had been mobilized to pay these debts.

“As of 4th October 2024, the defunct NHIF owed Ksh.19B to various healthcare providers, debts accrued over a period of more than 10 years. The Government is fully committed to settling these historical debts and consequently in the last month, Ksh.7.58 billion was mobilised to pay these debts,” she said.

The CS went on to point out that SHA had disbursed Ksh.5,051,202,052.30 to various providers, including Ksh.938,605,212 to Health facilities owned by faith-based organisations, the majority of which are Catholic Church-run institutions and would disburse the remaining Ksh.2.5 billion by next week.

“It is worth noting that the defunct NHIF had contracts with 8,886 facilities, encompassing public, private and faith-based organisations. 312 of these facilities are owned by faith-based organisations, representing 3.5% of all contracted providers,” she said.