SHA Responds to TSC Following Revelation That All Teachers Nationwide Were Locked Out
The Social Health Authority (SHA) has addressed allegations made by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) regarding its refusal to enroll over 360,000 teachers, attributing this to a lack of nationwide infrastructure.
TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia, while testifying before the National Assembly Education Committee, remarked that efforts to integrate teachers into the SHA scheme were thwarted after being informed that the Authority possessed insufficient structures throughout the country to accommodate teachers.
She further stated that although the TSC has consistently aimed to include teachers in a public insurance scheme, achieving this goal has not been feasible thus far.
“Last year, when we encountered issues with Minet, we sought to transition our teachers to SHA. We have continuously desired to place our teachers under the national insurer, even during the NHIF era,” she stated.
Nevertheless, according to the SHA, all teachers and their dependents are entitled to the benefits package offered by the Social Health Authority (SHA) under the three Funds.
These include the Primary Healthcare Fund (PHC), the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), and the Emergency, Critical and Chronic Illness Fund (ECCIF), like any other Kenyan who is registered and contributing.
The authority noted that employers such as the TSC may offer complementary insurance to their employees for additional benefits through a legitimate insurance underwriter.
SHA underscored that this supplementary coverage is managed independently from the services it provides.
“The Social Health Authority does not oversee the TSC complementary medical cover obtained from a private insurance provider,” stated the announcement in part.
Nonetheless, SHA indicated that the TSC may enroll its members in the public officers’ medical scheme fund, whereby they will establish the complementary benefits based on their budget.
Macharia States Authority Cited Ksh17 Billion Shortfall
Nancy Macharia informed the National Assembly Education Committee that while the government had allocated Ksh20 billion for the medical scheme, SHA insisted it required Ksh37 billion to accommodate the teachers.
“We convened a meeting with SHA prior to renewing our contract with Minet for this concluding year, and they informed us they did not possess adequate structures. They stated they would require Ksh. 37 billion to enroll our teachers, but even then, they were not prepared to accept them this year,” she conveyed to the committee.
Committee Chairperson Julius Melly recounted a disturbing incident involving a teacher who was placed in solitary confinement for three months due to an inability to settle a hospital bill — despite having insurance coverage.
“What type of insurance cover is this? It is a disarray; it lacks coherence. You have an insurer, a lead consortium, an administrator, a capitator — it is a rather peculiar form of insurance. You must extricate yourself from this situation,” remarked Melly.
The TSC renewed its three-year contract with Minet Insurance in December 2022, which is scheduled to run until November 2025.
However, the Minet-administered scheme continues to encounter criticism due to poor service delivery, inefficiencies, and delays.
As per SHA, there are 21. 6 million Kenyans registered with SHA, with an average of 50,000 Kenyans registering daily.