Strike
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Embu Branch has issued a seven-day strike notice over failure by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to remit Health Insurance deductions to hospitals.
They accused the employer of failing to remit their monthly deductions to their health insurer, AON Minet, for the last nine months leading to them and their dependents being denied services in hospitals. The Branch Secretary General Jacob Karura lamented that many of their members have been denied services in their accredited hospitals or getting substandard services.
Additionally, Karura said others were asked to foot the bills from their own pockets forcing some to hold fundraisers to finance treatment, especially those with terminal illnesses. Speaking at a press briefing in Embu Town on Saturday, Karura said they had complained to TSC through writing severally but had not received any response.
“If nothing happens in the coming seven days, we will have no choice, but to ask our members to proceed on strike,” he said. Eric Kimwere who is also an official said it was only in Embu that the problem was being experienced. “We are saying categorically that we are not going to stomach this, we are sick, we are tired, and we are fed up with always going to the hospitals and being turned away,” he asserted.
He added that they also had a problem with pre-authorization in hospitals where approvals for treatment were taking up to 24 hours. “This mistreatment on part of our teachers is unacceptable,” he complained, adding that their facilities had reached a point of treating one patient instead of all those covered in a household.