The recent row between Nairobi Hospital and medical insurer Jubilee once again brings to the fore a simmering but less talked about issue: medical inflation. It is no doubt that medical insurance companies in Kenya will eternally fund hospitals, and specifically private ones. Jubilee talked of Sh1 billion in annual funding of Nairobi Hospital. Quite a staggering figure.
The medical business is the second largest segment in general (short-term) insurance and accounts for a third of general insurance gross premiums—the largest being motor vehicle cover. It should be making them money.
