• The government rolled out the Social Health Authority (SHA) for the implementation of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF)
• SHA took over from the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), recruiting over 12 million members into the new health scheme
• The authority’s acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elijah Wachira directed all employers to start remitting the 2.75% of employee gross salary in the October 2024 payroll
• Wachira also shared new bank accounts where employers will deposit the remittance on or before the ninth of every month

TUKO.co.ke journalist Wycliffe Musalia has over five years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting and offers deep insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.

Kenyans will start paying for the new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) scheme by the end of October 2024.

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The Social Health Authority (SHA), rolled out on October 1, 2024, directed all employers to start remitting 2.75% of employees’ gross pay per month in this month’s payroll.

What’s the deadline for employers to remit SHIF contributions?

SHA acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elijah Wachira directed all employers to make contributions to SHIF by the ninth of every month.

Wachira also shared new bank accounts where employers will deposit the remittances.

“Regulation 17(1) of SHI General Regulations further provides that a household whose income is derived from salaried employment shall pay a monthly contribution to the Social Health Insurance Fund at the rate of 2.75% of the gross salary or wage, to be remitted by the ninth (90) day of every month.

“This is to inform all Employers to ensure compliance to SHI Act No. 16 of 2023 and the Regulations on remittance of contributions in the respective October 2024 payrolls,” read the public notice published on Monday, October 14.

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Are there SHA penalties for employers?

The CEO cited Section 48(1) of the SHI Act, which provides for offences for any person or a contributing employer who:

• fails without lawful excuse to pay to the Social Health Insurance Fund within the period prescribed by the Act any contribution which he or she is liable to pay:
• knowingly makes any deduction from the wages of the employee other than a deduction which he or she is authorised to make for the purpose of the SHI Act;
• knowingly makes any false statement or representation, or produces or furnishes, or causes to be produced or furnished, any document or information which he or she knows to be false.

He urged employers to ensure that all employees are well informed about the new contributions.

How many Kenyans have registered for SHIF?

SHA transitioned all registered and verified members of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to access health services provided under SHIF.

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The authority reported the total registration of SHA members, both new and old NHIF members, at 12,704,548.

SHA also emphasised that membership registration is a continuous process, ongoing through the USSD *147* or the web-based portal.

Source: TUKO.co.ke