Tuesday, September 9,
2025 - Principal Secretary for Medical Services, Dr. Ouma Oluga, has
revealed alarming details of how some health facilities and practitioners are
defrauding the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), managed by the Social
Health Authority (SHA).
Speaking in a media interview on Tuesday, Oluga outlined
schemes used to siphon millions from the fund.
According to Oluga, certain individuals establish fully
equipped health facilities to pass Ministry of Health inspections.
Once licensed, they relocate key equipment - such as x-ray
machines - to new branches, which are then also approved.
However, months later, these facilities fail to deliver the
services they were contracted for, such as maternity care, despite continuing
to receive payments.
“It’s not that inspectors were wrong,” Oluga clarified.
“But when SHA pulls data and contracts them for services,
wananchi show up and find those services unavailable.”
To combat this, the Ministry has launched a 24-hour call
centre allowing patients to report service failures directly.
Through this system, regulators have uncovered facilities
falsely claiming to offer services like maternity care, only to find essential
equipment missing.
“When we investigate, we find they removed the maternity bed
after registration,” Oluga said.
Such facilities are promptly delisted from the SHA system.
The revelations come amid growing concerns over corruption
in the newly launched SHIF scheme, with millions allegedly paid to non-existent
or non-compliant facilities.
The Ministry of Health has pledged to tighten oversight and
streamline SHA payments to ensure accountability and protect public funds.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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