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    "id": 1557884,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1557884/?format=api",
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    "content": "with the Task Force of the former Auditor-General, Ouko. He is looking at the bigger picture of pending bills amounting to Ksh500 billion. I have set up a verification team for all pending bills accrued from July 2022, when we took over the administration of public affairs up to 30th September 2024, when SHA took over from the defunct NHIF. We have made a commitment and we will seek a budget. The Government of Kenya will pay anybody whose bills have been verified and are between zero and Ksh10 million. We will bring a budget funding request to the Budget and Appropriations Committee of this House for consideration. We have formed a committee for the rest. We have used all the money we have collected so far to settle verified claims. Hon. Speaker, it is good for the country to know that this House has capped the administration cost of SHA at 5 per cent. What was the administration cost of the defunct NHIF? It was at 40 per cent at one time. That is why many people were employed and money was everywhere. That is why there was fraud. By the time this administration came to office, the administrative cost of the defunct NHIF was at 17 per cent. Today, because of technology and by law, the administrative cost of SHA is at 5 per cent. Proper measures have been put in place to ensure proper verification of SHA claims. First, all patients are verified using the National Registration Bureau data identifying biometrics, which is paperless. The SHA will not give you a card like the NHIF card. You walk into hospital if you are registered. We have integrated with the National Registration Bureau. We pick your 10 fingerprints when you register with your ID. You present your 10 fingerprints. Thereafter, the system will show you. This is important because we want to identify persons. Hon. Speaker, you could go to hospitals that would scan seven of your fingerprints instead of scanning 10 fingerprints. The other three were used for fraud. For example, Hon. K.J would be seated in this House but somebody would be using his fingerprints to be admitted in hospital for five days and that healthcare facility would be paid. This system is integrated to the National Registration Bureau (NRB) data. Secondly, the Social Health Authority (SHA) system is integrated with the systems of all regulators: The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) and the Clinical Officers Council (COC), among others. From the system, we can know the doctor who is treating a patient. There will be no “Dr Mugo” in this country. You all know what “Dr Mugo” did to many people. He is from Dagoretti as a Member said. We will even know the surgeons. Let me give you a good example of a crazy thing that we saw. For a surgeon to perform a hip replacement and there are doctors in this House, he needs eight to 12 hours. Under the defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), we had a facility that had a doctor who performed 10 hip replacements in a day. That must have been a very meticulous or magical doctor. Going forward, that will not happen because KMPDC - and Dr Golicha is a member - will be able to see who he has treated and if he has not, then that payment will not be made. From NCK, we shall know which nurse is treating patients. Also, from the COC database, we shall know which clinician is treating patients. If their license is cancelled because of malpractice, the system, through those bodies, will delete them. This will ensure the correctness of the facility and the doctor providing the service. The facilities are also identified by the regulators. A claim verification office with qualified doctors has been designated to undertake additional verification and settlement of claims. In fact, the head of the claims department - though I do not want to pre-empt when he or she is recruited - must be a medic. As I said earlier, all SHA claims are settled by the 14th day of every month. All claims status is available in our facility portal. Every facility and claim can be seen on the dashboard. The other question was on the current liabilities of the Fund by Hon Kawanjiku, who had many questions. The Ministry has appointed a verification committee to review the claims The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}