Government and Policy

We Won’t Pay For Covid-19 Treatment In Private Hospitals – Insurers

BY Soko Directory Team · June 16, 2020 12:06 pm

The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) has said that its members will not foot the bill for Covid-19 patients who will seek treatment in private hospitals.

According to the Authority, insurance companies have agreed not to pay for treatment in private hospitals where bills range from 600,000 shillings and 1.2 million shillings.

Insurance companies had registered concerns of a possible rise in losses as a result of the increased number of people seeking medication in private hospitals during this time of Covid-19.

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According to the Business Daily, insurance companies will only be able to foot the bill for treatment for Covid-19 patients where the costs will be estimated at 135,000 shillings.

Insurance companies will also not cover for Kenyans (members) who will seek Covid-19 testing services as well as isolation and quarantine in private hospitals.

“The insurance industry will pay for testing and treatment offered in government hospitals. These will include facilities run by the central government and county governments,” Godfrey Kiptum, the IRA chief executive said.

The announcement by IRA comes as a win for insurance companies who were worried that an increase in patients seeking medical attention would pile pressure on claims that would see the majority of them running into losses.

This announcement is a loss for Kenyans with insurance for they will not be able to go to private hospitals to seek treatment for Covid-19 and use their insurance to settle the costs.

The number of Covid-19 cases in Kenya continues to rise. Given that available beds in most of the public hospitals are full, Kenyans with means have been seeking treatment services from private institutions. The number of confirmed cases is now above 3000.

Medical claims contributed the second largest portion of premiums at 42.4 billion shillings in the last quarter of 2019 and attracted the largest claims at 20.4 billion shillings in the same period.

About Soko Directory Team

Soko Directory is a Financial and Markets digital portal that tracks brands, listed firms on the NSE, SMEs and trend setters in the markets eco-system.Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/SokoDirectory and on Twitter: twitter.com/SokoDirectory