New scheme to cover police injured in riots

Administration Police officers stand guard on September 30, 2016 in Mombasa at the land where a wall erected by KBC was pulled down. Officer have a new medical scheme. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The scheme, whose details were officially released Friday, also caters for the evacuation of injured officers from any part of East Africa.
  • Locally, the cover applies to all health institutions, including Class A hospitals such as Nairobi, Aga Khan, MP Shah and Mater.

Police officers injured in terror attacks, riots, strikes and civil commotion will be treated under a new comprehensive medical insurance scheme.

The scheme, whose details were officially released Friday, also caters for the evacuation of injured officers from any part of East Africa.

And in case the injuries require treatment not available in Kenya, the insurance covers air travel and medical fees at hospitals in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Britain, Australia, Switzerland and South Africa.

The scheme came into effect on October 1. It also includes officers in the Kenya Prisons Service.

Locally, the cover applies to all health institutions, including Class A hospitals such as Nairobi, Aga Khan, MP Shah and Mater.

Officers’ spouses and children are also covered in the scheme.

The comprehensive cover will be provided by AAR as the lead insurer and four other companies, while AoN is the administrator.

The lowest ranked officer, a constable, is insured at Sh150,000 for outpatient and Sh1.5 million for inpatient services every year.

On the other hand, the highest ranked officer is insured at Sh400,000 for outpatient and Sh2.5 million for inpatient services per year.

The amount for optical, dental and maternity cover is pegged at Sh50,000, Sh50,000 and Sh125,000 respectively across all police and prison grades.

The insurance also covers other diseases and chronic illnesses, including cancer.

“This is to inform all members of the service that the government has procured comprehensive medical cover for officers with the AAR consortium. All officers will migrate to the new cover. This is to assure all members there will be no disruption in their medical cover,” says a statement sent to commanders across Kenya.

It was signed by Mr Simon Kiragu for Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet.

An official conversant with the new cover described it as “superior” compared to the old one administered by the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).

The special NHIF cover for civil servants has, thus, been rendered obsolete.

Under the old cover, officers from the rank of constable to senior assistant inspector- general were limited to visiting selected health institutions, with a bias towards government-owned ones.