Self-employed get court reprieve on higher NHIF rate

An NHIF official helps a customer fill membership forms. Self-employed workers will continue contributing Sh160 to the scheme until a case challenging the new rates is determined. PHOTO | FILE 

By BRIAN WASUNA, bwasuna@ke.nationmedia.com

Self-employed workers under the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) will continue contributing Sh160 to the scheme until a case filed by a Nyandarua-based NGO challenging the new rates is determined.

Lady Justice Monicah Mbaru issued the restraining order after more than 10,000 self-employed workers from Nyandarua sued NHIF through NGO Areca Daps in a bid to review the new rates that require them to remit Sh500 monthly.

The Nyandarua residents hold that the new rate is more than three times what their employed counterparts netting a salary equivalent to their earnings are paying under the new rates.

Areca’s members say they earn between Sh3,000 and Sh6,000 a month. Employed workers earning Sh5,999 are paying Sh150. The new rates were enforced on April 1 through a legal notice published in the Kenya Gazette.

“It is hereby ordered that in the interim the legal notice no. 14 of 2015 is hereby suspended with respect to members of the self-employed category pending the hearing and determination of the application. All the parties do file their replies on or before May 22,” said Lady Justice Mbaru.

The judge will mention the matter on Friday when she is expected to give further directions to the parties on how to proceed with the case.

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NHIF has held that the new rates are part of its plan to make available universal medical care to all Kenyans, which is slated for commencement next month. The increments have, however, caused an uproar among workers.

The highest contributors will pay a monthly premium of Sh1,700 for gross earnings of more than Sh100,000, a 431 per cent increase. Those earning between Sh50,000 and Sh59,999 remit Sh1,200 to NHIF.

Areca’s members hold that the rate is discriminatory as it does not consider what some self-employed workers earn, especially in the rural areas. The new rates, Areca holds, are not in line with the actual situation of the economy hence should be shelved.

They have asked the court to allow them free access to hospital treatment until their suit is determined. Areca says the scheme’s stakeholders were not consulted before reviewing the scheme’s monthly charges.

“The new NHIF regulations are utopian and are not in tandem with practical realities of the kadogo economy operated by majority of Kenyans and should therefore be quashed pending further consultations and consensus among stakeholders and contributors to the fund,” Areca says.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers and Trade Union Congress have asked NHIF to base monthly contributions on individuals’ net earnings, arguing that most of their members will be hit hard by the new rates.