The Social Health Authority (SHA) has denied reports that a list of payments to hospitals has gone missing and dismissed claims that it disabled the Kenya Master Facility Registry, the official tool used to track such payments.
In a statement released on Tuesday, August 26, the Authority termed the reports as incorrect and reassured Kenyans that it remains committed to transparency.
“This information is not correct. SHA remains committed to keeping Kenyans informed and will continue to release updates on matters of importance,” the statement read.
The Authority also urged the public to refer to its official channels for updates as the matter unfolds.
Alarm was raised on Monday evening, August 25, when previously publicly available payment details could not be accessed.
The outage coincided with the announcement by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale of massive fraud at SHA, sparking speculation that the two events were related.
At the same time, the Kenya Master Health Facility Registry (KMHFR) that provides data of facilities accredited by SHA including location, category, bed capacity, and services offered also went offline.
The downtime inconvenienced the public in either verifying facility details or following up on payments.
The controversy comes amid mounting pressure over a scandal at SHA involving billions of shillings in alleged irregular disbursements, with reports of funds paid out to non-existent facilities. Critics argue that disabling access to records raises questions about accountability.
On August 25, CS Duale revealed disturbing findings from ongoing investigations, including upcoding, falsified medical records, converting outpatient visits into inpatient admissions, and phantom billing for patients who never existed.
He said the crackdown on fraudulent facilities is underway, adding that claims worth Ksh10.6 billion have already been rejected due to irregularities.
According to Duale, health facilities submitted claims worth Ksh82.7 billion under the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
Out of this, Ksh53 billion has been paid, Ksh6.4 billion approved and awaiting disbursement, while Ksh10.6 billion was rejected over fraud and non-compliance.
For the Primary Healthcare Scheme (PHS), facilities lodged claims amounting to Ksh9 billion, of which Ksh7.7 billion has already been paid. The balance, Duale noted, will be cleared in the next payment cycle.
He added that Ksh3 billion worth of claims is under re-evaluation due to missing documentation, while another Ksh2.1 billion is being investigated for possible fraud. Claims worth Ksh7.6 billion for the month of August are also under review.
