Tanzania’s health insurance pays for ‘men to give birth’-report

Tanzania’s Controller of Budget has blown the whistle on a scandal where the country’s health insurance erroneously covered “men’s normal delivery and caesarian operation.”

According to the report, publicised on Tuesday in the country’s capital, Dodoma, 731 men were reportedly part of the fraud.

“I reviewed and identified that false claims were submitted by health facilities and were paid Tsh14,409,200 ($6,211). I also identified that there were 56 claims that showed that men received caesarean operation or normal delivery service,” writes the CAG.

According to the report, there were some 444 members who received full blood picture examinations more than once on the same day.

“In fact, some even more than 30 times at the same health facility,” reads the 2020-2021 CAG report.

In another incident, the report says there were members who received spectacles more than once yet the law only allows for such a service once in a year.

The report also says that for the period 2020-2021, there were 7,556 claims worth Tsh69.1 million ($29,785) that names of the beneficiaries did not correspond with that of the card holder.