The medical situation in the country is in such dire straits that indeed millions of Kenyans are just one illness away from bankruptcy and poverty. It could be illness of a primary breadwinners or dependents or relatives. Whichever way, a lot of Kenyans are dying of illnesses that actually do not lead to death if handled differently.
Families have been known to sell property that they’ve worked for a lifetime for so as to afford treatment for their loved ones, and especially families that do not have access to quality medical care. Many are sending their loved ones to far off lands and this costs even more in terms of time, money and loss of income due to absence from work places. Worst case scenario, we have people dying of causes that could be sorted through good early diagnosis and treatment. But due to lack of finances and many families have been relegated to watching helplessly as their loved ones waste away and live lives of disability and many end up dying.
Truth be told, it is a bit easy to die of preventable causes in this country.
That does not always have to be the case and one thing we know that can really help is a good medical cover that covers a wide range of ailments. medical cover does give one some peace of mind to pursue other interests in life and in the case of teachers for example, peace of mind to pursue their day to day work of imparting knowledge to our young ones. More so a cover that takes good care of dependents also.
The Minet TSC health cover
Such was the case of Bungoma teacher Charles Micheso. Until his medical scheme came to the rescue and he now walks upright as he continues with his day to day job of teaching. pic.twitter.com/ehBS5VbgpC
— FemmeHub (@FemmeHub) August 8, 2018
As far as our teachers are concerned, did you know that they have a really good medical cover? As long as a teacher is employed under TSC, they’re eligible for the Minet TSC scheme as a principle member, under whom dependents fall. There are very many positive stories around the country and we’ll be looking at some examples in later posts. But one quick example is Charles Macheso below who lived with a spinal injury for years and simply could not afford full treatment out of pocket. Spinal injury treatment is quite expensive and it is good to see Charles back to walking upright and being able to teach as normal.
Take the case of Jasmine Zasu, a teacher from Mtomodoni Kilifi county. Her 5 year old daughter has hemiparesis and is undergoing therapy for the same at Aga Khan Hsp. pic.twitter.com/PjMM8O0T4c
— FemmeHub (@FemmeHub) August 14, 2018
Another example is Jasmine Zasu, a teacher in Mtomodoni Kilifi county who’s 5 year old daughter requires occupational therapy for hemiparesis. For such a case to be tackled out of pocket, many people would simply give up, not by their wish, but as bills pile up to a point where they just can’t carry on any more.
Who qualifies to be a dependent?
Minet covers a principle member’ one spouse who is covered upto 70 years of age, as well as 4 legal children from full term birth (38 weeks) upto 18 years. It defines legal dependents as either children by birth or legally adopted. Babies born before 38 weeks are covered under maternity, a part of the Minet TSC cover we’ll look at in a later post. Dependents with disability however are covered under the principle member for life.
The cover is something I identify with strongly because as much as my siblings and I were lucky to enjoy good health, our mother was a teacher all her life and although the scheme was not in existence back then, I can totally see the scenario if one of us was to need healthcare at that time.
How to register
For details on registration, follow the prompts here.
