In Summary:
- Court has suspended registration ofthe Social health insurance fund(SHIF)
- The three judge bench said parliament should undertake adequate public participation in accordance with the constitution
The High Court has suspended registration ofthe Social health insurance fund(SHIF).
While delivering their judgement, Justices Alfred Mabeya, Robert Limo and Mugambi gave Parliament 120 days to make amends to the said Act.
The three judge bench said parliament should undertake adequate public participation in accordance with the constitution before enacting the same act and amending the unconstitutional provisions.
“This should be done within 120 days. If they fail to, the Act shall remain suspended,” the judges ruled.
In the rulings, the court found that the provision of the program does not consider the right of life as members were required to undertake mandatory registration.
In the programme, the membership of patients seeking emergency treatment is to be verified before commencement of the treatment.
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It was the court’s finding that the programme had burdened a few salaried individuals, thus creating disparity in the contribution
Inthe case Joseph Enock Aura, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union, the Union of Kenya Civil Servants and other health bodies moved to court and opposed the mandatory registration of all Kenyans above 18 years of age to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
