Nairobi, April 12 -- The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) average spending per inpatient claimant from the informal sector has risen to Sh48,824 amid mounting defaults in premiums payment.

An actuarial report on the NHIF shows the figure, relating to the year ended June 2022, was a rise from Sh47,647 in the preceding year, bringing the total inpatient claims payment for the period to Sh16.2 billion.

The claims were paid out to 332,194 people. This means the Fund relied on the rest of the active members to subsidise those who fell sick to the tune of about eight times their annual Sh6,000 premiums.

Inpatient claims had dropped for two consecutive years to an average Sh42,642 in the financial year ended June 2020, partly on patients...