Tenwek Hospital, a private Hospital in Bomet County has stopped offering services to teachers under the cover of AON Minet due to a Sh. 45 Million bills.
Teachers seeking medical services were turned away on Thursday over the issue. The hospital asked the teachers to pay for medical services like any other clients.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) – Bomet Branch executive secretary Mr. Malel Langat urged AON Minet to address the issue with urgency so as to allow teachers to receive medical services that AON Minet covers.
“Unfortunately, several teachers have come to us seeking intervention after being turned away from the hospital,” said Mr. Malel.
Mr. Shem Tangus, in a letter dated the 29th of April, 2021 to MAKI limited, said that AON Minet had not paid the bills for the last nine months.
MAKI limited is under the AON Minet medical scheme.
“Following our efforts to resolve payment (row) for service provided to your clients, our efforts have been unsuccessful because of unresponsiveness of your team,” stated Mr. Tangus in the letter sent to KNUT.
This is not the first time a similar incident has happened. In 2019 for instance, teachers under the cover of AON Minet were denied medical services.
That year, teachers were forced to pay for medical services even though they were under the insurance scheme. Accusations of humiliating teachers have been directed at the AON Minet insurance scheme many times before.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has on many occasions defended AON Minet arguing that it is the best insurance of its kind in the region. Allegations from teachers that they have been humiliated have been termed as baseless.
The scheme’s cover cost TSC Sh. 9 billion in the year 2019, Sh. 12 billion in 2020, and Sh. 14 billion this year covering 332,000 teachers.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) have been urging the government to increase funds allocated to the medical cover scheme and hence improve it.