Kakamega Deputy Governor Ayub Savula has asked the government to review Social Health Authority regulations to ease access to medical services.
Savula suggested that MPs remove the clause, which requires one to pay the entire year's cover.
“These people are poor and they cannot manage to raise annual payments. The regulation should be reviewed to allow contributors to access medical services as long as they have paid for the current month,” he said.
“Asking someone who is struggling under the current economic hardships to pay huge amounts of money before being treated is like telling them to die without benefiting from the little money they have already paid."
Savula said the regulations should allow Kenyans to pay on a monthly basis.
He urged MPs to amend the regulations to encourage more people to register in the health scheme.
Savula spoke during the commissioning of a modern hatchery in Butere subcounty on Tuesday.
Contributors have been complaining of being denied access to the cover despite their cover being up to date. Some said they are asked to first pay the whole year's cover before they can see a doctor.
“What our leaders are telling us out there is SHA is working, but that is the opposite of what we encounter in hospitals. Many people are being turned back,” a patient at the Kakamega County General Hospital said.
Patients have also complained about the cash-first policy by the county government.
They said patients, including those registered in SHA, are forced to pay cash at the casualty department.
