Members of the public have been given upto Friday to submit their memorandum on the Digital Health Bill and the Social Health Insurance Bill, 2023.

Clerk of the National Assembly Samuel Njoroge said the move is in compliance with Article 1181 of the Constitution and Standing Order 127[3], that the Departmental Committee on Health public participation on the bill.

The House which has been on recess for one month will resume sittings next week Tuesday.
He said: “Copies of the Bills are available at the National Assembly Table Office, Main Parliament Building or on www.parliament. go.ke/the-national-assembly/house-business/bills.

The memoranda should be addressed to the Clerk of the National Assembly, P.O. Box 41842-00100, Nairobi; hand-delivered to the Office of the Clerk, Main Parliament Buildings, Nairobi; or emailed to [email protected] to be received on or before Friday, 22 September, 2023 at 5:00pm.”

He added: “Article 1181 of the Constitution of Kenya requires Parliament to facilitate public participation and involvement in the legislative and other business of Parliament and its Committees.”

The move comes after the two bills were Read the first time on Thursday last week and pursuant to Standing Order 127[1] of the National Assembly Standing Orders, they were committed to the Departmental Committee on Health for consideration and reporting to the House.

The House approved the reduction of publication period with regard to the Digital Health Bill from 14 days to six days while that of Social Health Insurance has been reduced from 14 days.
The two bills are among four others including the Primary Health Care Bill, 2023, and The Digital Health Bill, 2023 that were endorsed by the Cabinet at its sitting held at the Kakamega State Lodge.

With regards to the Social Health Insurance bill, which seeks to replace the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) Board with the Social Health Authority, the government is proposing to establish within the authority a Claims Management Office which shall review and process the claims.

According to the bill, the Authority will only make payments to a contracted healthcare provider or healthcare facility upon submission of a claim by the Claims Management Office.

Reads the bill: “The Cabinet Secretary shall make regulations for the better carrying out of the provisions of this section.”