Ministry scales up travel insurance plan for visitors
Passengers walking past the Passport Control Centre at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on January 11, 2024.
What you need to know:
- The new product comes as the government seeks to enhance the uptake of insurance.
- Kenyan citizens are required to register with the Social Health Insurance Authority.
The government has instructed the Insurance Regulatory Authority to draw a list of competent insurance companies to offer soon to be mandatory travel insurance cover to people entering the country.
The decision to procure companies that will provide travel insurance cover for all travelers to Kenya on short term stay was announced in a by Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai in a letter to the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) Chief Executive Officer Godfrey Kiptum.
The requirement for the provision of the travel insurance cover for foreigners travelling to Kenya for a short stay — 12 months and below — is provided under the Social Health Insurance Act of 2024 and was recently reiterated by President William Ruto.
The new product comes as the government seeks to enhance the uptake of insurance as it ramps up efforts to accelerate the attainment of Universal Health Coverage for all persons within Kenya as one of the priorities under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (Beta).
“The purpose of this letter therefore, is to request you to urgently provide us with a list of licensed or approved inbound travel health insurance products or providers for the purposes of undertaking a restricted tendering process,” PS Kimtai says in his letter to IRA CEO Kiptum.
The PS says that the “providers listed will then be issued with a request for proposal with the appropriate specifications.”
This means that all insurance undertakers have to do is apply to the IRA, the industry regulator, to be registered as travel insurance providers for the new product.
Other than the requirement of mandatory insurance cover for inbound travellers, Kenyan citizens are required to register with the Social Health Insurance Authority (SHA) whether in employment or not and contribute to the kitty for the provision of the cover.
“In this regard, the Ministry of Health has commenced the process of establishing the necessary administrative framework for the implementation of the policy and legal requirements,” says the PS.
This, according to the PS, includes identification and selection of an appropriate inbound travel health insurance cover and provider to be designated for all travelers to Kenya on short term stay.
However, Makueni Senator Daniel Maanzo notes that while the introduction of a new insurance product into the market is expected to increase in insurance uptake and therefore increased premiums in the effort by the government to increase insurance coverage, it will lock out many underwriters qualified to offer the travel insurance cover.
“It is only fair that they procure the insurance service providers for the product through a competitive bidding process. Handpicking the service providers exposes all the mischief in the whole process,” says Senator Maanzo.
“I don’t understand what is so sensitive about the provision of this insurance cover to warrant a restricted tendering process. We all know that valid exemptions can only be made on materials that are security in nature, for instance, the procurement of military hardware among others,” the Senator says.
Section 26 (6) of SHI Act provides; “a person who is a non-Kenyan who intends to enter and remain in the territory of Kenya for a period of less than 12 months shall be required to be in possession of a travel health insurance cover as may be designated by the Cabinet Secretary.
The cabinet on December 13, 2023 directed that every non-Kenyan visiting the country on a short-term stay be in possession of the mandatory travel health insurance.
The cabinet directive was part of the decision to lift the Visa requirements for all non-Kenyans travelling to the country beginning January 2024.
