Teachers' unions oppose new NHIF deductions

General Secretary, trade unions congress of Kenya, Wilson Sossion gestures during a press briefing at the organizations office in Nairobi. He said that in the spirit of brotherhood, they had embraced the hand of friendship and for once, they will share a joint platform and celebrate the international day of workers-the Labour Day together with the central organization of trade unions (COTU) at Uhuru Park. [PHOTO/Mbugua Kibera/STANDARD]

Opposition to the new National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) rates continued to grow after the two teachers' unions called for suspension of the deductions.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers' (Knut) top decision-making organ held a meeting yesterday over the revised medical deductions. This came as pressure mounted on NHIF over the rates that saw the highest deduction rise to Sh1,700 from a flat rate of Sh200.

 Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion said the National Executive Council (KNEC) members were infuriated with the new NHIF rates that they said were "being forced down their throats in blatant disregard of any consultation".

"They are questioning what happened to the comprehensive medical cover that they negotiated. We shall meet the union's advisory council on Wednesday," said Sossion.

The Standard established that the Knut leadership was under pressure to justify the revised 'heavy deductions' when details of the benefits were not yet clear.

NEC also questioned the rationale of the increased medical rates when Knut already negotiated a Sh5.6 billion comprehensive medical cover for the 278,000 teachers.

Sources in the meeting told The Standard that the "matter is hot".

The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) officials also joined Knut in rejecting the revised NHIF rates, terming them "outright theft".

Kuppet Secretary General Akelo Misori said teachers are opposed to deductions based on gross pay, and maintained any deduction can only be done on basic pay.

 LEGAL REDRESS

"We cannot allow the fund to deduct teachers' allowances. They are already underpaid and pegging deductions on gross salary is mischievous," said Misori.

The union official also said the fund's administration have not 'laid bare' the extent of the cover, making it difficult for teachers to form an opinion.

"What do they have? Do they have CT scans, dental care, medical lab tests, x-ray, optical or outpatient services? We do not know what they are taking our cash for," said Misori.

He said union members have also questioned the rationale of having comprehensive cover under NHIF, when a multi-billion shilling comprehensive medical cover is soon to be rolled out.

"Teachers want to know what is there that warrants that size of deduction because they have their own medical scheme upcoming," said Misori.

Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) Executive Director Jacqueline Mugo also poked holes in the NHIF scheme yesterday and threatened to seek legal redress "in the next few days".

She said NHIF must revise the deduction formula to reflect basic pay and not the gross salary.

"They have been consulting and we have given them only a few days, failure to which our options shall be open," said Ms Mugo.

Speaking to The Standard, she said NHIF is unfairly pushing workers in the upper deduction bracket to rake in more money.

The new rates will see some contributors pay Sh150 and others Sh1,700 at the highest limit, based on salary bands. NHIF will collect Sh2.3 billion every month up from Sh800 million.

The Fund now has a membership of 5.2 million Kenyans, including members of the disciplined forces.

"They say they will start deductions in April, but services shall commence in July. Why pay for three months yet there are no services? It must start immediately. And who are the service providers? What are the limits of the services?" asked Mugo.

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions Secretary General Francis Atwoli also said deductions must be based on basic pay. He, however, said NHIF should be given time to implement the cover.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC)-mandated cover indicated that teachers shall enjoy inpatient cover ranging from Sh350,000 for the lowest paid teachers to Sh1 million for those in the highest job group, R.

The teachers shall also get dental and optical cover of Sh15,000 for each service.