NHIF launches biometric registration to tackle fraud

What you need to know:

The biometric registration launched Thursday targets civil servants and security agencies and aims at improving the system and reducing fraud.
The registration, which will start in Nairobi on September 1, will capture the details of members and their dependants including fingerprints, names and pictures.
The government pays about Sh4.3 billion for the civil service medical insurance scheme that is administered by NHIF and is renewed annually.

The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) is turning to the use of fingerprints to identify civil servants and their dependants to tackle mounting fraud at the State-funded medical insurance scheme.

The scheme has been hit by fraudulent claims of people using fake identities to seek medical care and hospitals processing false claims.

The biometric registration launched Thursday targets civil servants and security agencies and aims at improving the system and reducing fraud.

The registration, which will start in Nairobi on September 1, will capture the details of members and their dependants including fingerprints, names and pictures.

NHIF chief executive Simon ole Kirgotty said members will use smart cards to identify themselves in hospitals. The cards will use biometric features when the thumb is placed on a reader.

The CEO noted that some people have been using false identities to gain free healthcare and to defraud the fund.

“There’s no way your finger can be similar to another person’s,” he added.

“There have also been cases where some hospitals collude with some of my officers to register people and give them cards. These cards didn’t have a chip so it wasn’t easy to follow (false claims).”

The private sector adopted the use of biometric features years back and this has helped curb fraud that in 2009 caused revenue losses estimated at 40 per cent of total claims or Sh1.6 billion.

The process to register the 250,000 members will start in 21 stations across the capital city. Dependants will be registered starting in October. The fund members and dependants will be required to appear in person for the registration.

Civil servants and security officers form the first step as NHIF moves to migrate its membership to the biometric system.

“Through this initiative the government is targeting to deepen the health insurance coverage from the current 17 million people to 25 million people by July 2017,” James Macharia, the Health Secretary, said.

The government pays about Sh4.3 billion for the civil service medical insurance scheme that is administered by NHIF and is renewed annually.

It replaced the system where government workers drew a monthly medical allowance of between Sh375 to Sh2,490.