The Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation, chaired by Senator Mwenda Gataya (Tharaka Nithi) convened on Thursday to deliberate on key sets of regulations published by the Ministry of Health, the Social Health Insurance (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (Legal Notice No. 55 of 2025) and the Social Health Insurance (Tariffs for Healthcare Services) Regulations, 2025 (Legal Notice No. 56 of 2025).

Cabinet Secretary for Health, Hon. Adan Duale, appeared before the Committee to address concerns raised by Senators over the formulation and implementation of these regulations, which are critical to the rollout of Kenya’s new universal healthcare system.

𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

A key concern raised by the Committee was the absence of documentation demonstrating that the public had been adequately involved in the amendment process. Responding to the issue, CS Duale defended the Ministry’s position, stating that further public participation was deemed unnecessary based on legal advice from the Office of the Attorney General.

“Following the Attorney General’s advice, there was no need for additional public engagement since the amendments were based on recommendations already reviewed and adopted by the National Assembly’s Delegated Legislation Committee,” said Duale.

He went on to explain that the original or Principal Regulations had undergone what he described as “comprehensive and extensive public participation,” which, in his view, met the legal threshold outlined in the Statutory Instruments Act.

𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑅𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡

Senators also queried why a Regulatory Impact Statement had not been included with the Social Health Insurance (Tariffs for Healthcare Services) Regulations, despite this being a requirement under Section 6 of the Statutory Instruments Act, Cap. 2A. They noted that some of the measures proposed in the Regulations could potentially impose financial burdens on communities.

In response, CS Duale assured the Committee that the tariff component had indeed been subjected to a wide-ranging public consultation exercise. He stated that the Ministry had called for public submissions on the proposed tariffs via a newspaper advert published on 10th June 2024, with a deadline for responses set for 17th June 2024.

He emphasised that the Tariff proposals had also been posted on the Ministry of Health’s official website and the Social Health Authority’s website to facilitate public access and allow stakeholders to submit their views.

Duale further pointed out that this process culminated in a National Validation Exercise held on 30th August 2024 where final input was gathered to refine the tariff structure.

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑑

He explained that the Ministry and the Social Health Authority had actively engaged with both the National Assembly and Senate Departmental Committees on Health, as well as the Committees on Delegated Legislation. The feedback from these engagements, he said, had a significant impact on shaping the final version of the Tariffs, which are linked to the benefits packages outlined in the Second, Third and Fourth Schedules of the Social Health Insurance Regulations, 2024.

“The Ministry did not prepare an entirely new Regulatory Impact Statement,” said Duale. “Instead, we revised the existing one from 2024 to include the latest stakeholder feedback specifically relating to the tariffs.”

He noted that this updated version had been included in the submission provided to the Committee and reiterated that the tariffs apply to services covered by the three healthcare funds established under the Act.

𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝐹𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠

The CS took the opportunity to explain how each of the three Funds functions under the new healthcare system. He outlined that the Primary Healthcare Fund is designed to support basic and preventive healthcare services at the community level, with a focus on primary health needs.

He described the Social Health Insurance Fund as offering broad-based healthcare coverage, including outpatient and inpatient services, dental and mental health care, renal care, maternity, radiology, haematology, oncology, and various surgical procedures.

Regarding the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund, Duale said it caters for outpatient and inpatient critical care, palliative care, rehabilitation, mental wellness programmes and the provision of assistive medical devices.

𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑑ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠

Among those present during the session were Vice Chairperson Senator Danson Mungatana (Tana River), Senator Betty Montet, Senator Mohamed Faki (Mombasa), Senator Joyce Korir, Senator Issa Juma Boy (Kwale), Senator Julius Murgor (West Pokot) and Senator Daniel Maanzo (Makueni). The Members lauded the Ministry for providing clarification but also reminded the Cabinet Secretary of the importance of adhering strictly to the law.

The engagement provided an important forum for accountability and dialogue between the Executive and Parliament as Kenya transitions to a new healthcare system. The Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation is now expected to review the submissions in detail before submitting its report.