The Social Health Authority (SHA) has introduced biometric fingerprint verification for registered child dependants as part of efforts to strengthen identity verification and curb fraud under Kenya's national health insurance scheme.
In a notice issued on Tuesday, July 7, the authority announced that fingerprint identification will now be used to verify children aged between 7 and 17 years whenever they seek treatment at SHA-contracted healthcare facilities.
According to SHA, parents or legal guardians must first provide consent before their child's fingerprint is captured.
"SHA has introduced fingerprint identification for registered child dependants aged 7 to 17 years. Parents or guardians are required to give consent for the fingerprint to be captured," the authority said.
SHA explained that the child's fingerprint will be collected during a treatment visit at a contracted healthcare facility and will be used solely to verify the child's identity and confirm that the correct beneficiary is receiving healthcare services.
"The child's fingerprint will be captured at a SHA-contracted healthcare provider when the child visits for treatment. It will be used to identify the child and confirm that the correct beneficiary is receiving care," the authority added.
In cases where fingerprint verification is not possible, healthcare providers will use the contributor's identification number together with a one-time password (OTP) as an alternative method of verifying the beneficiary.
The authority assured members that the biometric registration and verification process will be conducted in compliance with Kenya's Data Protection Act, emphasizing that the collected information will be handled securely to protect beneficiaries' privacy.
The introduction of biometric verification is expected to improve the accuracy of beneficiary identification and reduce cases of fraudulent medical claims that have previously affected the health insurance scheme.
To support the initiative, the government, through the Digital Health Agency (DHA), has already deployed more than 8,000 biometric scanners to public health facilities across the country.
Officials believe that requiring a child's physical fingerprint during treatment will significantly reduce the possibility of fraudulent claims by ensuring beneficiaries are physically present before healthcare services are accessed.
SHA has also identified outdated member records as one of its major operational challenges, noting that many registered contributors do not regularly update their personal details or information relating to their dependants.
The biometric verification exercise is expected to help address this challenge by replacing reliance on self-reported digital records with a physically verified beneficiary database, improving the integrity and efficiency of the national health insurance system.