Teachers’ Sh5.6bn health plan halted
TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia closes the primary schools head teachers annual conference at Sheikh Zayed hall on August 11, 2016 in Mombasa. Teachers lost their monthly medical allowance last year — which was ranging from Sh767 to Sh4,412 — to finance the scheme. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The tender, which closed on July 20, had received four bids: Liaison insurance, Clarkson Insurance with AoN Kenya submitting two bids.
- Mrs Macharia sought clarification on whether the provision of two tender securities formed grounds for the disqualification of AON.
The prospect of AoN Kenya insurance brokers offering a Sh5.6 billion medical scheme to more than 290,000 teachers hangs in the balance after a decision to award the tender for the second year was put on hold.
The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPOA) told the Teachers Service Commission that the law was not followed in recommending the awarding the tender to AoN.
The firm had been recommended by the commission’s tender committee.
The tender, which closed on July 20, had received four bids: Liaison insurance, Clarkson Insurance with AoN Kenya submitting two bids.
In an August 22 letter to TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia, PPOA Director-General Maurice Juma concurred with the head of procurement at TSC, who recommended that the bids be re-evaluated.
This led Mrs Macharia to seek the opinion of PPOA in an August 19 letter.
One of the reasons the head of procurement at the commission recommended re-evaluation of bids was because AoN provided two tender securities — one for Sh100 million issued by Geminia Insurance company and another for Sh180 million issued by M/S CBA — instead of one for the hybrid model.
INSURANCE BENEFITS
Mrs Macharia sought clarification on whether the provision of two tender securities formed grounds for the disqualification of AON.
The three companies had quoted between Sh14.7 billion and Sh17.7 billion for the three-year contract.
AoN in July received an extension of three months in order to allow TSC to get a new provider following the expiry of the contract that was awarded in May last year.
At the moment, 233,000 teachers are registered with the scheme with 423,457 dependants, making a total of 657,367 members.
Teachers lost their monthly medical allowance last year — which was ranging from Sh767 to Sh4,412 — to finance the scheme.
Under the scheme, a teacher and four beneficiaries are entitled to an inpatient, outpatient, maternity, dental cover and group cover for funeral expense among other services.
The highest paid teacher gets a package of Sh1 million for inpatient while the lowest gets Sh300,000.
