NHIF set to lose lucrative police tender

The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) is set to lose a lucrative tender of providing medical insurance cover to police and prison officers at the end of the month, dealing a blow to its revenue.

Both the police and prison officers, together with civil servants serving in the two units will from next month be covered by private medical insurers. Police officers have over the years formed an important cog of NHIF’s comprehensive medical cover from which it collected Sh12.7 billion worth of premium in 2017/2018, audited report shows. The tender for the new cover advertised in January showed the cover will be administered by consortium consisting of up to three insurance firms.

Director of personnel at the directorate of criminal investigations Mwangi Wanderi yesterday sent a memo to the informing police and prison heads of the termination of NHIF tender. “Please inform all officers under your command that NHIF will not be in a position to offer enhanced health insurance cover to National Police, Kenya Prisons and civil servants in the departments after 31st March 2020 when the current arrangement lapses,” said Mr Wanderi in the memo.