The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) has now made it mandatory to show proof of marriage before accepting applications to include spouses in medical covers.
For one's spouse to be included in the medical cover; the contributor's Identification Card, the spouse's national ID and a marriage certifiate or an affidavit from a Magistrate's Court will have to be produced.
Affidavits from a lawyer will also not be considered as proof of marriage, with only those from a Magistrates Court admissible.
The parastatal noted that the new measure was meant to combat fraud which they maintained has become rampant in recent years.
"This is just a measure to prevent possible fraud. We have had several cases of presenting their relatives, especially those having medical problems, as their spouses," NHIF Chief Executive Geoffrey Mwangi explained.
[caption caption="NHIF CEO Geoffrey Mwangi"]
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He noted that while the requirement was not entirely new, it was never made mandatory and Kenyans had identified loopholes they could use.
Mwangi stated: "Kenyans are very clever people. They come up with ways of survival everyday. We have to put in place tough measures to curb such situations."
Many NHIF contributors who sought to include their spouses as beneficiaries were only required to produce the spouse's national ID and two passport-sized photographs.
NHIF disclosed that this had been abused as some people had included their girlfriends and mistresses as beneficiaries.
The parastatal has recently introduced a 'second tier of scrutiny of claims', a move that saw them save Sh1.9 Billion after a crackdown on hospitals making fake claims.
[caption caption="NHIF CEO Geoffrey Mwangi addressing a media briefing"]
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