Teachers will no longer have to endure long waits at health facilities to receive treatment under their Sh5.6 billion medical scheme. Their insurer, Minet Kenya Insurance Brokers, has scrapped a pre-authorisation rule that required that the firm approve treatment for members.
The approved health facilities will now be required to treat the nearly one million teachers and their dependents and resolve the payment modalities with the insurer.
“Due to the issues that have been raised with regard to delays and inconvenience caused by the outpatient pre-authorisation process, Minet embarked on an effort to socialise the providers to a fixed rate per visit model of service provision,” read a statement from the insurer. Minet yesterday said the pre-authorisation process had been implemented countrywide, with only five per cent of the providers yet to comply. “This means that a teacher can walk in and out of the facility without having to wait for consultation between the service provider and Minet for primary and chronic care services,” said Sammy Muthui, the Minet managing director. Teachers had complained that they had to wait for long at health facilities to get treated.
