SHA Can Cover up to 4 Wives and Unlimited Number of Children, Health CS Aden Duale Explains
- Health CS Aden Duale confirmed that the Social Health Authority (SHA) can cover up to four wives and unlimited children in one household
- His response came during a live interview after a Marsabit resident complained that the system currently only allows registration of one wife despite earlier promises
- Duale explained that unlike the old NHIF, which limited families to one spouse and four children, SHA was designed to support bigger families
TUKO.co.ke journalist Harry Ivan Mboto has over three years of experience reporting on politics and current affairs in Kenya
Can Kenya’s Social Health Authority (SHA) plan really cover four wives? Aden Duale says yes, and more.
Source: UGC
The Health Cabinet secretary revealed that the insurance scheme is broad enough to support even the largest households including up to four wives and as many children as one can prove are theirs.
He made the remarks during an interview on Citizen TV on the evening of Wednesday, July 9.
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A concerned viewer from Marsabit had sent in a question asking whether SHA recognises polygamous families and allows them to register multiple wives under one cover.
“The minister told us that SHA can cover all members of a household, including two wives if one has them. But the system is not taking two wives, it only allows one. If there’s a method we can use to register two wives, let them tell us,” the question read.
Can SHA cover more than one wife?
In his response, Duale cleared the air and said the system was, in fact, designed to handle larger families, including polygamous ones.
“For Kenyans, the maximum number of wives allowed in SHA is four,” he said. “Four wives are allowed, plus the dependants. The children are unlimited, as long as you can prove that these children are yours.”
He went on to compare the new SHA scheme with the now-defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), which had more limited terms.
“In NHIF we used to accept one wife and four children, now SHA allows four wives and unlimited children. I am telling Kenyans to reproduce. We will take care of the children,” he said.
Was unlimited SHA reimbursement for hospitals scrapped?
In a related development, the government scrapped unlimited reimbursements under the SHA system.
Hospitals will now receive payments based on the number of approved beds instead of billing for more patients than they can actually accommodate.
The move is part of a broader push to stop hospitals from overcrowding patients and then demanding full compensation from SHA.
Duale previously highlighted rampant insurance fraud across public, private, and faith-based hospitals.
He revealed that some facilities were admitting multiple patients per bed or forcing them to sleep on the floor, all while submitting inflated claims.
Source: Twitter
Can Kenyan patients order ambulance services?
Meanwhile, the government unveiled a plan to introduce app-based ambulance services across the country by October.
Duale explained that the system will allow Kenyans to request ambulances through a platform similar to ride-hailing apps, helping locate the nearest government ambulance in real time.
The ambulances will offer free transport to hospitals in critical cases.
The service will be powered by a government-backed mobile app and funded through the newly established Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund.
This fund, already approved by the National Assembly, will fully cover ambulance costs for patients with severe medical conditions.
Proofreading by Asher Omondi, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
