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The government has initiated the process of migrating National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) accounts to a newly developed platform under the Social Health Authority (SHA).
The move is part of efforts to streamline healthcare services in line with the country’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda, though it has raised several concerns among Kenyans.
Many Kenyans have reported receiving a message that reads: “Your NHIF account has been migrated successfully to Social Health Authority. To update your profile, dial 147#, visit sha.go.ke, or any authorized SHA agent.”
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The migration aims to centralise health coverage for citizens, providing a more integrated approach to healthcare services.
However, the manner in which this transition is being carried out has drawn criticism from some members of the public, raising questions about consent and data transparency.
A number of Kenyans have voiced their concerns on social media and other platforms, expressing unease about the migration happening without prior consent.
Critics have pointed out that if the NHIF has struggled with issues of ghost members in the past, the automatic transfer of data to the SHA could potentially undermine efforts to clean the registry and validate membership data.
Some are questioning whether the migration will compromise the intended goal of having a reliable and accurate health insurance database by allowing members to re-register afresh.
In September, the number of newly registered Kenyans was about 2.5 million suggesting resistance from Kenyans.
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However October 1, registrations shot up to12 million with about 9.9 million having migrated from the defunct NHIF.
This suggests that the automatic migration of NHIF data was the key driver in the sharp increase in numbers.
Following the transition Kenyans are expected to start contributing 2.75% of their income to the SHA.