Taxman delists Nairobi Women’s as staff medical service provider
Irene Githinji and Roy Lumbe
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) yesterday joined in the tide to cut ties with Nairobi Women’s Hospital, following claims of unethical practices aimed at unfairly generating revenue from patients.
KRA made the move just a day after the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) suspended the hospital from its list of accredited service providers, pending thorough review of quality and cost of the facility’s services.
“This is to inform you that Nairobi Women’s Hospital has been suspended from the KRA list of approved medical service providers with immediate effect.
This suspension will stand until such a point where the contentious issues between the Authority and the hospital are resolved conclusively.
Staff are advised to access medical services from other approved providers as listed in the updated list on the KRA hub,” read an internal memo to all KRA staff from Human Resource, Deputy Commissioner.
“Medical insurance is the second largest class of short-term insurance business, after Motor insurance, in terms of gross written premium.
However, the business has been struggling over the years. In 2018, medical insurance business made a loss of Sh1.1 billion,” Aki said on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Kenya Association of Private Hospitals secretary general Dr Timothy Olweny called for an in-depth investigation into the allegations levelled against the hospital, including unprocedural charges and admissions.
Ascertain claims
Speaking in Nakuru yesterday, Olweny said the hospital will have contravened the medical ethics code for hospitals if the claims are true, adding that they await a full report before the association proclaims itself on the matter.
He said metrics in healthcare performance especially for private hospitals must be based on patient outcome and quality services and not on how much money they make through billings and admissions.
“We need to focus more on the healthcare of consumers in light of the Universal Health Coverage,” said Olweny.
However, the official said the move by insurance companies to cancel their services to the hospital was unwarranted adding that they should have waited for investigations to be completed to ascertain whether the claims are true.
Insurance companies among them AAR, Jubilee, Britam, Old Mutual, and CIC have suspended payment of bills in the nine branches of the hospital citing administrative concerns.
With close to two decades of practice, Nairobi Women’s Hospital had established itself as one of the most sought-after facilities until complaints of unprocedural charges and admissions surfaced.
Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council sought an explanation from the hospital, to which the hospital has already responded.
The hospital’s management is expected to appear before the council on February 21.
