End of the Road for Fraudsters as Health Insurers Consider Implementing an Integrated Database

Esther Macharia | Mar 17, 2020

Plans are underway to fight health cover fraud by introducing an integrated health insurance database as announced by the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI).

Tom Gichuhi AKI’s executive director, reported that this strategy had so far worked for motor insurance. The Intergrated Motor Insurance Database System (IMDS) was launched in 2018 and since then, it has saved the Ksh 24 million. It is expected that developing such a system for health insurance will curb fraud, which is one of the biggest problems facing the industry besides the high cost of drugs and rising claim ratio.

Gichuhi was quick to address any privacy concerns stating that proper measures could be implemented to govern how insurance companies will collect and use personal customer data.

According to the 2019 AKI Report, health insurers suffered a net loss of Ksh 1.1 billion.

12 out of the 21 medical insurers in the country also experienced underwriting losses.

Players in the industry have welcomed this move, saying that the new system will reduce fraud and will improve their ability to identify fraudsters early and hence minimizing its financial impact.

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