Taxes will not fund medical scheme, doctors' unions clarify

Public Civil Servants Unions led by Union of Civil Servants Secretary General Tom Odege during a media briefing on the Comprehensive public servant medical cover under SHA. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

Medical practitioner’s unions have clarified that the public servants’ comprehensive medical insurance scheme will be funded exclusively through allowances forfeited by the workers themselves.

The unions dismissed claims that the fund would rely on contributions from the general public, affirming that the Public Servants Medical Insurance Scheme Fund will draw from pooled medical allowances managed under the Social Health Authority (SHA).

“To make it clear, this is not money contributed by the other Kenyans to SHIF as been alluded by some quarter but the forfeited medical allowance by Public servants,” said Dr Davji Atellah the Secretary General of Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU).

He noted that the arrangement had given their members peace of mind as they tirelessly served the nation.

The scheme had been a basis of healthcare for civil servants until it faced uncertainty following the lapse of the previous agreement under the SHA transition framework.

Atellah was reading from a joint statement of KMPDU, Kenya Union of Clinical Officers, Kenya Environmental and Public Health Practitioners Union, and Kenya National Union of Nurses.

Others were the Kenya National Union of Medical Laboratory Officers, the Kenya Union of Nutritionists and Dieticians, the Union of Kenya Civil Servants, and the Kenya National Union of Pharmaceutical Technologists.

He said that the forfeiture arrangement, introduced in 2011, allowed the government to pool funds to provide comprehensive medical insurance for civil servants above and beyond their NHIF contribution.

Last month, the public sector unions issued a joint strike notice demanding, among other things, the provision of Comprehensive Medical Insurance coverage for all public servants following the Lapse of the civil servants’ scheme as envisioned in the Social Health Authority (SHA) transition clause 5.

The government then responded by extending the civil servants' Comprehensive medical insurance coverage until November 21st, 2024.

“A team comprising of the Head of Public Service, Treasury, Ministry of Public Service, Office of Attorney General, Ministry of Health, and Public Sector Unions was formed to come up with a long-term solution to this problem,” said Atellah.

After negotiations, Atellah announced that the government and unions reached an agreement to establish a public officers’ Medical Scheme Fund for the continuity of comprehensive medical insurance coverage for public servants.

“The benefits package for the comprehensive medical insurance scheme for public servants shall remain the same as what has been there previously and it will be open for all public servants. That government will forthwith not procure private insurance for public servants,” said Atellah.

Atellah announced that draft regulations for the fund have been released for public participation, urging the more than six million public servants and their dependents to review and provide feedback.

“To actualize the establishment of this fund the joint team made up of government and public sector unions came up with draft regulations that have been released by Treasury for public participation,” he said.