ALL civil servants will be on a comprehensive medical insurance cover, the government has announced. The Sh4.3 billion scheme is earmarked to benefit 220,000 employees including the civil service, prison staff, the regular police, administration police, National Youth Service and Teachers Service Commission Secretariat staff along with their spouses and up to two children younger than age 18 or those under 25 years and in school.
The cover that took effect from January 1 will be provided by the National Hospital Insurance Fund. Civil servants and their defendants will access both outpatient and inpatient medical services in NHIF accredited government, mission and private hospitals even for chronic diseases including HIV/Aids across the country. “This scheme will cover for every disease or medical problem that can take anyone to hospital. This aimed at avoiding any discrimination and generally the cover will bring relief to civil servants who have been meeting high medical cost on their own so as we keep a health workforce for efficient productivity,” Public Service minister Dalmas Otieno said during the signing of a contact between the government and NHIF yesterday.
The new health insurance scheme will not include 200,000 teachers represented by Kenya National Union of Teachers and over 60,000 represented by Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers 60,000. The two bodies were opposed to the new healthcare scheme and are currently in negotiations with NHIF to have a separate package.
According to Otieno, the funding for the scheme will come from monthly medical allowances paid to the civil servants and the government will top up the other half. The new scheme will also include limitless inpatient and outpatient in amenity wards in government, mission and some private hospitals with specified ceiling on high cost private hospitals for officers in Job group N-T/SL 4-9/ PG 10 15.
The scheme will also include life insurance worth Sh200,000 for low ranking officers and 500,000 for higher ranking employees. In addition, the scheme will include funeral expenses insurance coverage worth Sh40,000 for junior employees and Sh100,000 for those high cadre officers. Both the life and last expense insurance covers main members only. A yearly mandatory general medical check-up for principal members will also be part of the benefit under the cover.
However in reaction to the scheme Union of Kenya Civil Servants secretary general Tom Odege and his deputy Jerry ole Kina applauded the move, they said their planned strike is still on and only awaiting its governing council approval. “This is a move in the right direction, but it doesn’t change our stand because we have still numerous pending issues on our members’ welfare and pay the government is yet to address. So as far as we are concerned we still bracing for the nationwide strike and the governing council will meet next week to decide on way forward,” Odege told the Star on the sidelines of the health cover agreement signing ceremony at Harambee house.
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