New civil service insurance to cost Sh6bn annually

The Treasury’s spending on civil servants’ insurance is set to rise seven-fold to Sh6.07 billion per year on the introduction of new covers to enhance the welfare of workers and their families.

The comprehensive insurance cover that now ropes in the National Youth Service (NYS) will see annual premiums rise from the current Sh839 million.

Treasury secretary Ukur Yatani said the cover would run on a co-insurance model, with about 30 insurance companies coming in to share the risk with National Hospital Insurance Fund.

“The co-insurance and facultative reinsurance model adapted under this scheme are in tandem with global insurance market practice that not only spreads the risk but also drives efficiency and effectiveness in the settlement of claims,” he said.

Mr Yatani said the new cover will enhance the existing group personal accident cover and work injury benefits cover and also add a comprehensive group life cover to cater for all causes of death including those arising from Covid-19.

The enhanced insurance cover has added more than 14 new categories covers, offering a boost to the well-being of civil servants, employees of the NYS and their families. “It’s also my hope that this noble intervention will put to rest the perennial agitation for better welfare and the unfortunate consequences of strikes that robs too many man-hours from the public service,” said Mr Yatani.

The cover is, in particular, a big boost to front line health workers who have been discharging their duties without any proper insurance in place. Health ministry data shows 2,369 healthcare workers had tested positive for Covid-19 by last Wednesday while 30 had died.

The development comes about a month after President Uhuru Kenyatta chaired a cabinet meeting that gave clearance to the roll-out the scheme.

The new cover will now be administered by the NHIF, which will be sharing the risk with the 30 other insurers.