SHA Responds to TSC After Disclosing That All Teachers Nationwide Were Locked Out
The Social Health Authority (SHA) has addressed allegations from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) that it failed to enroll over 360,000 teachers because of insufficient nationwide infrastructure.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia, while appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee, stated that attempts to integrate teachers into the SHA scheme were unsuccessful after they were informed that the Authority lacked adequate structures nationwide to support teachers.
She added that, although TSC has consistently aimed to enroll teachers in a public insurance scheme, achieving this has not been feasible so far.
“Last year, when we encountered issues with Minet, we sought to transition our teachers to SHA. We have always wanted our teachers to be under the national insurer, even during the NHIF days,” she stated.
However, according to SHA, all teachers and their dependents qualify for the Social Health Authority (SHA) benefits package through the three Funds.
These consist of the Primary Healthcare Fund (PHC), Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), and Emergency, Critical and Chronic Illness Fund (ECCIF), similar to any other Kenyan who is registered and contributing.
The authority noted that employers such as TSC can offer complementary insurance for their employees for extra benefits through a legitimate insurance underwriter.
SHA stressed that this additional coverage is managed independently from the services it offers.
“The Social Health Authority does not supervise the TSC supplementary medical cover which they obtained from a private insurance provider,” the statement read in part.
Nonetheless, SHA indicated that TSC can register its members in the public officers’ medical scheme fund, where they will assess the complementary benefits based on its budget.
Macharia States Authority Cited Ksh17 Billion Deficit
Nancy Macharia informed the National Assembly Education Committee that while the government had allocated Ksh20 billion for the medical scheme, SHA maintained it needed Ksh37 billion to accommodate the teachers.
“We convened a meeting with SHA prior to renewing our contract with Minet for this last year, and they communicated that they lacked sufficient structures. They indicated they would require Ksh. 37 billion to enroll our teachers, but even then, they were unprepared to accept them this year,” she told the committee.
Committee Chairperson Julius Melly recounted a concerning instance of a teacher who was placed in solitary confinement for three months for not clearing a hospital bill — despite being insured.
“What sort of insurance cover is this? It’s a mishmash; it has no coherence. You have an insurer, a leading consortium, an administrator, a capitator — it’s a very peculiar kind of insurance. You must extricate yourselves from this situation,” remarked Melly.
TSC renewed its three-year agreement with Minet Insurance in December 2022, which is scheduled to continue until November 2025.
Nonetheless, the Minet-administered scheme continues to receive criticism over inadequate service delivery, inefficiencies, and delays.
According to SHA, there are 21. 6 million Kenyans registered with SHA, and an average of 50,000 Kenyans register each day.