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Quality, accessible and affordable healthcare is a right to every Kenyan – but this is not the case with teachers today.
The launch of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) medical scheme was a laudable move in many ways. Teachers often have very little time to themselves outside of work, and spending it navigating confusing, and frustrating healthcare service systems was not only an expensive affair but frustrating at best.

Since the inception of the Medical Scheme administered by Aon-Minet Insurance Brokers however, access to healthcare was streamlined leading to tremendous benefits for teachers
Previously, having not had a medical cover – with launch of Aon-Minet teachers could walk into the nearest healthcare facility on their medical panel and get med-care services without having to think about payment.

Until late 2019 or there about, the Scheme covered about one million teachers and their dependents, making it the largest such private medical scheme in the country.
The Scheme administrator, Aon-Minet was charged with ensuring that teachers are able to readily access medical facilities and the best services – at one point in time, the administrator had contracted over 1,500 healthcare facilities in its panel.

The biggest advantage of the medical scheme was the ease of access. Any teacher or their dependents could seek services from any facility anywhere in the country so long it was on the panel. Given the geographical spread of teachers in all parts of the country, this was a big boom for the teaching fraternity.

In fact, it reached a point where teaching in a Public school was the much sought for job ; this was largely because teachers enjoyed lavish healthcare benefits that appeared more valuable than any other reward a Public servant could get from the Government.

As we reflect on the performance of Aon-Minet since October 2015 when the Scheme was launched, we call on the TSC to audit the scheme’s impact on teachers’ health access. Quality, accessible and affordable healthcare is a right to every Kenyan – but this is not the case with most teachers today.

Teachers have taken an issue with healthcare providers, saying the Scheme is killing their moral as some of the contracted hospitals, health centres and clinics have literally turned away teachers insured by Aon-Minet.

It is even baffling when the insurance administrator contracts hospitals and other medical facilities that clearly lack the threshold to offer medical services because of lack of qualified personnel, drugs and medical equipment.

Teachers are not comfortable with some of the health facilities such as BLISS which operate intermittently between 8 am and 5pm – offering substandard services such as poor tests and diagnosis. These facilities besides offering poor services, do not provide round-the-clock medical services, thus teachers who fall ill at night fail to receive medical attention.

Specifically, teachers’ complaints centre at very low capitation on Outpatient services, with some capped at as low as Shs 900, inclusive of doctor’s consultations, tests and drugs. There are restrictions on the hospitals teachers are allowed to visit for treatment, some of which are ill-equipped and lack adequately trained personnel.

There are delays in approvals of payments, which sometimes take up to one month, hence putting the life of a teacher at risk. Significantly too is the fact that presently many teachers are facing challenges lodging claims with Aon-Minet. There is limited access to health facilities due to rigid operating hours. Worse still, there are limited dental services, where only tooth extraction is cared for by Aon-Minet. On dental services, the Scheme administrator doesn’t cater for crucial services such as cleaning, refilling, root canalling and tooth replacement. It is prudent that this issue is relooked to allow teachers to enjoy full healthcare benefits and ensure their well being is catered for.

Dorothy Muthoni is the National Chair, KEWOTA