Following the Nation Media expose of a fraud scheme at NHIF, Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Susan Nakhumicha has suspended branch managers in all the affected areas.
The Cabinet Secretary has also ordered a lifestyle audit of all NHIF staff starting this month of June 2023, saying that the exercise will continue for the remainder of the year.
The report aired by Nation TV showed how NHIF managers collaborated with health facilities to defraud elderly people in Meru County. Several health facilities across the county duped elderly people suffering from arthritis, promising to give them the solution to their problems.
Health officers billed the victims for surgery, but they were given only tablets and injections.
This is not the first time that NHIF is facing such scandals. There were reports of false in-patient claims from the agency in 2019.
The NHIF scandal comes at a time when Kenya Kwanza’s administration promises to provide universal health coverage through the agency.
