SANTO DOMINGO – A comprehensive investigation into the National Health Insurance Agency (SENASA) has revealed systematic corruption involving tens of millions of pesos in misappropriated public health funds. The damning findings were presented Tuesday at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) during the unveiling of the Seventh Report from the Observatory of Administrative Corruption Cases.
Investigative journalist Edith Febles, who spearheaded the research, detailed a complex network of financial irregularities within the Dominican Republic’s healthcare system. The probe originated from an anonymous document that exposed multimillion-peso contracts, recurring payments, and suspicious financial benefits linked to health services.
Initial assessments indicated approximately 75 million pesos in monthly questionable payments, but subsequent investigation uncovered the scheme’s true scale far exceeded early projections. The report identifies a consistent pattern of administrative opacity and deliberate lack of transparency within SENASA’s operations during the reviewed period.
Field verification conducted across multiple provinces revealed that numerous contracted health services were never actually delivered to patients. Primary care centers and hospitals confirmed the existence of funded but non-operational structures, suggesting widespread ghost services within the system.
The Observatory’s analysis concludes that these corrupt practices have directly compromised hospital financing mechanisms and degraded healthcare service quality nationwide. Researchers emphasized the critical need for enhanced oversight measures, greater transparency protocols, and strengthened accountability mechanisms for public health expenditure.