Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Wafula has maintained that she will do everything humanly possible to restore sanity in the health sector.
Speaking during a national high-level dialogue on health financing on Tuesday, the CS revealed how small hospitals conspire to defraud the National Health Insurance Fund.
The CS said medical claims from some of the small hospitals in various parts of the country show they seem to be performing a higher number of surgeries than the country’s referral hospitals.
“As a country, people must be held accountable. We cannot have people raising resources for health and we have others misusing the resources,” she said.
“There is no way that some small facilities somewhere receive the highest claims in this country from NHIF; that this facility does more surgeries than KNH, KUTRRH, MTRH and some of the big FBO facilities we have around. It is not possible, it is theft and we shall call them out for that.”
The CS directed the Kenya Healthcare Federation CEO Tim Theuri to join in the effort saying she will go after any provider in the private sector found engaging in fraud.
Theuri supported the measures implemented by the CS in an announcement made on Monday.
He said the move will ensure accountability in the sector adding that they will not defend any provider found culpable.
The CS on Monday suspended eight NHIF branch managers in regions hit by fraud allegations.
She further announced that all staff at the fund will have to undergo a lifestyle audit.
The CS said the exercise that will be conducted by EACC will require the staff to explain their sources of wealth that will be expected to be commensurate with their pay.
She noted that any inconsistencies that will be flagged will be subjected to further investigations and will attract legal measures.