Delegates follow proceedings during the Kenya Primary Schools Head Teachers Association Conference in Mombasa on November 4, 2024.
More than 400,000 teachers and their dependants might have to put up for longer with medical scheme provided by Minet Kenya despite growing concerns over the quality of their services.
Although the contract for the provision of medical insurance cover between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Minet Kenya is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2025, previous advertisements have failed to attract other qualified service providers for the tender to cover the more than one million individuals under the scheme.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia recently revealed that attempts to attract new insurance providers through open tendering have repeatedly failed, leaving teachers with limited options. According to Ms Macharia, no other insurance company has shown interest in the contract, forcing TSC to renew the deal with Minet that tendered through a consortium.
“We advertise for insurance, but no one comes. No tenders, no offers – nothing. Maybe it’s our size, or the number of teachers we represent. Still, no one insures us. The best we could get was a consortium led by Minet and even that felt like a last resort,” she said.
This comes as the commission grapples with stalled plans to transition the teachers to the Social Health Authority (SHA) while struggling to sustain the existing Minet medical cover, now riddled with funding delays and looming expiry.
While appearing before the Education Committee, the TSC boss revealed that the current medical insurance contract will expire on November 30, 2025. She said that SHA had declined to enroll teachers due to a lack of nationwide infrastructure.
Ms Macharia explained that efforts to onboard teachers into SHA failed after being informed that the insurer lacked sufficient structures across the country to cater for the teachers.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia when she appeared before the Constitutional Implementations oversight committee at the Continental House Nairobi on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
"We have always wanted to move our teachers to SHA. We had a meeting with them and they said they do not have enough infrastructure, Last year, when we had issues, we wanted to move our teachers to SHA. We have always wanted to have our teachers under the national insurer, even during the NHIF days," she said.
Ms Macharia revealed that the National Assembly has not allocated the Sh1.5 billion required for Group Life Insurance, a crucial benefit that provides a payout to families of deceased teachers.
“If Parliament does not allocate funds for us to pay Minet and the consortium, it's our teachers who end up suffering. Hospitals will turn them away if we fail to make the required payments,” said Ms Macharia.
While the commission has fully paid for the second policy year ending November 30, 2024, delays in Treasury disbursements have left it unable to pay for the first and second quarters of the third policy year, which began in December 2024 and March 2025, respectively.
Delayed funds
“We currently have an outstanding balance of Sh11.2 billion owed to the consortium, stemming from delayed exchequer releases. The commission has yet to remit payments for the first and second quarters of the third policy year, which began on December 1, 2024, and March 1, 2025, respectively," she said.
In a letter dated December 18, 2024, addressed to the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Medical Services, TSC communicated that it had been advised by the National Treasury to immediately terminate its current contract for the provision of medical insurance cover for teachers. The directive follows a government decision to centralise public servants' health coverage under the newly established Social Health Authority (SHA).
“The National Treasury vide letter Ref: DV/ES 2091/24/01 ‘A’ (17) dated December 5, 2024 (copy attached) has advised the Commission to terminate the contract for the provision of medical insurance cover for teachers and their dependents effective immediately,” read the letter.
Ms Macharia, in the letter, expressed concern over the sudden nature of the shift, noting that teachers have been beneficiaries of a robust and tailored medical scheme since 2015.
The scheme included benefits such as unlimited outpatient services, inpatient cover ranging from Sh1 million to Sh3 million based on job group, dental, optical, maternity, last expense, local and international evacuation, and even air evacuation per family.
The commission warned that the sudden shift to SHA could significantly alter the quality and scope of health benefits teachers have grown accustomed to. A detailed population breakdown showed that over 400,000 teachers are currently covered, with an additional 54,000 expected to join the service by January 2025.
The Social Health Authority building in Nairobi.
SHA, through a letter dated December 20, 2024, acknowledged receipt of TSC’s communication and the consultative meeting held a day earlier. However, SHA expressed regret, indicating it might not meet the benefit levels previously enjoyed under Minet’s scheme, citing budget constraints and tight timelines for onboarding.
SHA highlighted that under the new Social Health Insurance structure, public servants—including teachers—would contribute 2.75 percent of their gross income to access services under three main funds: The Primary Healthcare Fund, the Social Health Insurance Fund, and the Emergency, Chronic, and Critical Illness Fund.
“After careful review of the request from TSC, SHA regrets that the request from TSC might not be met given the outlined timeliness. During the Joint meeting held between SHA and TSC it was also noted that the proposed budget might not accommodate the current benefit package being accessed by their members. While SHA remains committed to ensuring access to quality healthcare services, adjustments may be necessary to align benefits with the available budgetary provisions,” reads the letter from SHA.
