Aden Duale, the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Health, on Thursday held a meeting with the leadership of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) over how the union’s members can access medical care under the new Social Health Authority (SHA).
The KNUT team was led by the union’s chairperson Patrick Munuhe. The meeting focused on how teachers will access medical services as the government moves them to the new health financing system.
This meeting follows a previous meeting between the Ministry of Health, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET). The government is working on shifting 413,577 teachers to the new system of health financing.
During the meeting, the CS for the Ministry of Health, Aden Duale, stated that the government is working on how to improve service delivery for teachers so that they can access the right medical care through the Public Officers Medical Scheme Fund (POMSF).
Some of the agreements that were reached include the need to establish a continuous education program that will be aimed at helping teachers understand how this system works. This will be done through the teachers’ national network.
The teachers will also be able to contact a 24-hour toll-free helpline where they will be able to get information on how to update their details, their medical benefits, and even emergencies.
The meeting also agreed that the government, alongside other stakeholders, will ensure that this scheme is reviewed every three months in order to ensure that it is working effectively in service delivery in health institutions.
To address issues of fraud, billing, and illegal charges, the ministry agreed that it will establish a digital system where these issues can be reported.
Some of the individuals who attended this meeting included Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni, Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth, SHA Chief Executive Officer Mercy Mwangangi, Digital Health Agency CEO Anthony Lenayara, KNUT Secretary-General Collins Oyuu, and TSC representative Chrisantus Odhiambo.
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