Renal Association Demands Urgent Dialysis Payments From NHIF Citing Closure Risk

The Kenya Renal Association (KRA) has urged the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to make timely payments for dialysis citing increased risk of closure owing to rising costs.

In a statement on Tuesday, KRA Chairperson John Ngigi said over 4,000 patients nationwide who seek dialysis services in private institutions are likely to be impacted by the situation with a projected influx in numbers.

"We are deeply concerned about the ongoing issue of non-payment for services rendered by our haemodialysis units. This situation, if not addressed promptly, threatens to cause the closure of many smaller units and eventually the larger ones," Ngigi said.

"We urgently appeal to NHIF to expedite the payment process for dialysis services provided by our units."

The association said NHIF has only been remitting between five and twenty per cent of the refunds to hospitals, thereby frustrating their operations.

"The consequences of this situation are dire. Private units unable to withstand these constraints are facing closure, which will result in a surge of patients flocking to the already overwhelmed government units or those few surviving private ones," he added.

The association called on the insurer to consider the critical role the units play in providing life saving treatment to Kenyans and take a swift action to ensure their continued operation.

Under a previous structure, NHIF would pay Sh9,500 for each dialysis session with dialysis patients requiring at least two sessions a week.

However, under a newly reviewed structure, NHIF said it would pay Sh6,500 per session.

As per the 2022 data, Kenya has 217 haemodialysis units comprising 55 public units, translating to 25 per cent, 245 private units translating to 67 per cent, and 17 faith-based units eight per cent.

Soaring costs

KRA attributed the remarkable growth in service provision to a government decision in 2017 to reimburse units Sh9,500 per session.

Ngigi noted that by 2017, the exchange rate stood stood at Sh103 per US dollar making haemodialysis kits cheaper.

"Today the exchange rate stands at 145.00 causing the haemodialysis kits rise by almost 50pc," he said.

KRA pointed out that in 2018, the coast of haemodialysis was ranging between Sh4,800 to Sh8,800 depending on the source and quality of consumables.

"Including capital investment and running costs the average cost for one session is Sh12,916. Given this delay in payments by NHIF is causing a significant strain on the operation of our units," Ngigi observed.