By Purity Ngigi – Sundays

News sites have reported that MPs on 29th September 2021 passed the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) Amendment Bill 2021 at the sitting of the committee of the whole house. 

The draft Bill provided a requirement for employers to match their employees NHIF contribution by paying the total amount without deducting it from the employee’s salary or remuneration. This would have created an onerous burden on the employer, adding to the statutory expenses the employer is required to contribute per employee per month. The Bill provided a penalty of 25% of the contributions for delayed remittance of the contributions and a penalty of up to One Million Kenya Shillings fine or imprisonment for failure to remit the employees contributions. Such employers would have been required to cater for the employee’s medical bills arising during the duration of the delay to remit the monthly contributions in addition to the 25% penalty. 

During the tabling of the Bill, the MPs rejected this provision relieving the impending burden on employees. 

The Bill proposes a mandatory registration of all Kenyan adults (persons of 18 years and above) with NHIF. It shall go through third reading before proceeding with the presidential assent before it can become law.