Thousands of NHIF contributors are locked out of the medical cover despite remitting their monthly dues, a parliamentary oversight committee heard on Tuesday.
Acting National Hospital Insurance Fund CEO Nicodemus Odongo admitted before the Public Investment Committee that the Fund could not trace the contributors of Sh35 million.
As such, those contributors cannot access health services from hospitals as they are listed as defaulters.
Odongo said the contributions of the "unrecognised" could be higher since the Sh35 million is for only one financial year.
“When contributors use M-Pesa to make payments, some do so with wrong details so the system cannot apportion it but we always try to send SMS to the numbers (of remitters) to visit the nearest NHIF centres to have the anomaly corrected,” he said.
“It is always a bother to us when members send money which does not come with full details. We have already put in place a system where any contribution with insufficient details is sent back to the owner immediately.”
The money – mostly received from the mobile money transfer services – was at the centre of an audit query for the 2016/17 financial year.
The Auditor-General noted a variance of Sh35,184,557 between the financial statement and the supporting schedule.
NHIF receives between Sh2.8 billion to Sh3.2 billion per month from contributors through mobile money transfers and bank deductions.
MPs Abdulswamad Nassir (PIC chairman), Chris Wamalwa (Kiminini), Rashid Amin (Wajir East) and Omar Mohamed (Mandera East) faulted the national health insurer over negligence and accused it of putting the lives of thousands of Kenyans at risk.
The lawmakers said it was illegal to withhold members’ money without according them the crucial health service.
Abdulswamad said the health insurer should have transferred the unclaimed cash to the Unclaimed Assets Authority as per the law.
“The law is very clear. If someone submits money to you which you cannot trace, you are mandated to transfer the same to the Unclaimed Assets Authority,” the Mvita lawmaker said.
“What you are calling Sh35 million is not small money. You are putting the health of this country in jeopardy. If you do not know the sender, why have it in your accounts as contributions?” Amin asked.
The Wajir East lawmaker demanded a comprehensive audit of the Fund especially millions held in its account and whose owners cannot be traced.
The lawmakers cast doubt on the Fund’s declared Sh300 million surplus, saying that most of it might be the unrecognised members’ contributions.
