NHIF Addresses 48-Hour Service Outage; How To Access Service
Patients at the Kenyatta National Hospital and other health facilities in and around Nairobi have been stranded in hospital facilities for the past two days due to a significant system failure in the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) systems.
Since Friday evening, health facilities have been unable to use NHIF payment services due to a malfunctioning power transformer that led the systems to fail.
On Saturday, September 10, a malfunctioning transformer damaged the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) biometric system, impacting its services in hospitals across the country.
“The Fund notes with deep concern the distress members are facing due to the power outage that has caused system downtime since yesterday mid-morning,” read the statement by NHIF.
NHIF issued a statement later that day announcing that it has reverted to a manual approach to assure that no patient will be denied or required to pay for NHIF-covered services.
The company also disclosed that a team had been dispatched to repair the broken transformer and restore real-time services.
NHIF reassured members that the technical team was diligently working to restore normal service operations.
In the meantime, the public is informed that manual methods have been undertaken to assure continued service for those seeking medical care in hospitals.
According to the statement, NHIF has communicated to all hospitals to ensure patients are not denied services or asked to pay for services that NHIF covers.
In the manual method, patients enrolled in the program can access services by visiting accredited establishments with their NHIF and ID cards.
Kenyans can also access the services via a USSD code, *155#, which requires them to submit their identification card number and apply for a particular service.
The manual system was replaced with the biometric system in July 2021 to combat fraudulent activities in which multiple individuals used a single card to access services.
The transition was also intended to expedite patient clearances and health facility reimbursements.
According to the NHIF statement, the malfunctioning transformer impacted the biometric system on Friday, September 9, mid-morning.
NHIF apologized to members for the unanticipated interruption of services caused by a significant power outage caused by a malfunctioning transformer.
The program supports 25 million participants, of whom 7 million are principals.
