William Ruto Recalls His Friend Stealing from NHIF with Fake Claims: "He Had Many Accountants"
- President William Ruto marvels at what he says is the revolutionisation of the healthcare system by the Social Health Authority (SHA)
- He lauded the new scheme for sealing the loopholes that fraudulent stakeholders leveraged to fleece the government money meant for patients
- Ruto said the defunct NHIF was an avenue for cartels to syphon money from the government, saying SHA's digital infrastructure is the game-changer
President William Ruto has continued to vouch for the Social Health Authority (SHA), which he holds has revolutionised the healthcare system in Kenya.
Source: Getty Images
The president maintains that the new scheme is foolproof and has locked out brokers who leveraged the loopholes in the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to rob the government.
How did cartels rob NHIF?
According to Ruto, the full digitisation of the new programme made it hard for cartels in the health sector to manufacture claims and demand payment with them.
Search option is now available at TUKO! Feel free to search the content on topics/people you enjoy reading about in the top right corner ;)
The lack of the digital aspect in NHIF was its main undoing, according to the president.
Speaking at State House Nairobi, Ruto recalled how his close friend used to cheat the system to rake in millions using his private hospital.
"The problem with the NHIF Act is that it is a manual thing. Many people cannot work there. I even have a friend from Eldoret who had a hospital there. His hospital had many accountants who were doctors. So his job was to fill out a form to claim money from the NHIF. Fake things. So, we closed that door," Ruto recalled.
He noted that SHA had recorded impressive progress within a short time, as juxtaposed with NHIF, which had been in existence for over five decades.
The president marvelled at the number of beneficiaries enlisted in SHA, adding that the scheme was opportune for the lowly citizens whose healthcare needs have been taken care of conclusively.
"We put everything on a digital platform. And NHIF, the highest registered people in NHIF was 8 million. The highest registered number of Kenyans. Today, under SHA, we have 22.5 million Kenyans registered. Today, even that mama mboga, for the first time, can pay money by going to the hospital under SHA if they are registered," he said.
Source: Facebook
To protect the seven-month-old scheme, Ruto said the government had undertaken several pieces of legislation to have a sound legal framework around it.
"And that is going to give every person a chance, and that is not going to punish poor people. We replaced the NHIF Act with five new pieces of legislation to provide a sound legal framework and foundation for our health infrastructure because health is that important to every family in Kenya.," Ruto said.
Did government pay KSh 104 billion for SHA system?
Elsewhere, the president recently denied the claims that over KSh 104 billion had been sunk for the technology behind SHA.
Ruto highlighted the integration of a consortium of technologies to enhance SHA and streamline health fund management.
He clarified that no upfront payments would be made for these services.
According to him, the system follows a fee-for-service model, ensuring that technology providers are compensated based on their actual service delivery.
He emphasised that this investment in advanced technology aims to fortify the health scheme, making it more secure and efficient while safeguarding beneficiaries’ data.
SHA, launched in October 2024, combines three essential health funds to improve access to healthcare services.
These funds include the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), the Primary Healthcare Fund, and the Emergency, Chronic, and Critical Illnesses Fund.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
