Senate probes AON Minet teachers’ medical cover

The Senate is investigating AON Minet insurance company over claims of humiliating teachers covered under its medical insurance scheme. 

A statement sought in the Senate by nominated Senator Rose Nyamunga highlights the difficulties teachers under the insurance provider scheme have to undergo while seeking medical treatment even as she urged the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the teachers’ employer, to rise up and give the teachers hope. 

The cover cost TSC Sh9 billion last year, Sh12 billion this year and Sh14 billion next year. 

Those lined up for interrogation by the Senate committee on Education that is investigating the matter include AON Minet management, TSC, and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) among others. 

Already KNUT Secretary-General and nominated MP Wilson Sossion has been summoned to appear before the Senate committee on Wednesday to respond to the issues raised by Ms Nyamunga over the mistreatment the teachers are forced to go through under the insurance provider. 

Ms Nyamunga while raising the matter in the Senate on September 30, 2020, claims that there is very low capitation on outpatient services with some teachers capped at as low as Sh900, which is inclusive of doctors’ consultations, tests and drugs. 

“The teachers of this country are a frustrated lot and they feel their lives are potentially endangered by the poor services being offered under the AON Minet Kenya medical insurance cover,” Ms Nyamunga says.  

The nominated Senator notes that concerns of substandard services offered by AON Minet are serious and that there is a need for the TSC to ensure that teachers’ need for quality healthcare is treated with the importance it deserves.

“The decision to introduce a medical cover for teachers was very good because it was a step in the right direction. However, there appears to be glaring gaps and challenges that must be addressed by the employer immediately,” she says. 

Despite having to undergo double significant deductions on their pays lips both for National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and AON MINET, there are no commensurate services, she says.

Article 43 (1) (a) of the Constitution provides that every person has a right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to healthcare services. 

But according to Ms Nyamunga, the Kenyan teachers are reporting that the services offered by AON Minet are, not only poor in terms of quality, but also too restrictive to benefit them. 

“There are restrictions on the hospitals they are allowed to visit for treatment, some of which are ill-equipped and lack qualified personnel,” the nominated Senators says. 

The October 26, 2020 letter addressed to Mr Sossion by Senate Clerk Mr Jeremiah Nyegenye, wants the nominated MP to respond to the issues raised in the statement including claims that there are delays in approval, which sometimes can take up to one month putting the life of a teacher at risk. 

“This is really absurd, considering that at times the life of a teacher might be at stake. It beats logic why they cannot get the best of health services available considering the role they play in shaping the future generation of this country,” she says. 

The statement also notes that teachers face challenges while lodging claims with AON Minet and that there is limited access due to rigid operating hours in some health facilities. 

She cites Bliss as among those facilities operating only between 8am and 5pm, thus making it difficult for teachers who fall ill at night to get the help they need. 

On dental services, only tooth extraction is catered for by AON Minet while other essential services like cleaning, refilling, root canal treatment and tooth replacement or dentures are not covered.

There have also been instances where hospitals have turned away teachers insured by AON Minet because of the challenges they face while lodging claims with the company.

“If we cannot treat our teachers with dignity, then we have lost it as a country because when a teacher is frustrated, the trickle-down effect will definitely affect our children,” says the Senator. 

With the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic and the imminent reopening of schools across the country, TSC will have the task of addressing the concerns raised by teachers.