Monica Chepng'etich, a police officer based in Sotik, Bomet county is in a constant state of worry over a Ksh4 million medical bill in India accruing over the recent directive by the National Police Service (NPS) to revoke the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) cover.
The mother of three is currently stuck in a foreign country after both her second-born child and last-born were diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia.
Reports indicated that the officer's last-born son is set to undergo an operation worth Ksh4 million- which will not be covered due to the latest directive.
“Life is becoming unbearable for me here. I am suffering. Watching my two children agonising in a foreign country has seriously drained me emotionally and financially,” Chepng’etich stated.
Her plight ensued after her 11-year-old son was diagnosed with the condition - 11 months after he was born at Tenwek Mision Hospital.
To compound her woes, her third-born daughter, was also diagnosed with the same condition just two weeks after she was born.
According to the officer, her life currently revolves around hospitals for the past few months.
“My life revolves around taking care of them in and out of hospitals. I have lost count of the blood transfusions done on them. Their education has been disrupted,” she stated.
The medical treatments began at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) where the two children underwent several tests. The doctors at the facility recommended that they undergo a bone marrow transplant operation.
Despite Chepng'etich being declared a viable donor for her kids, she was informed that the operation could not be conducted in the country.
A fundraiser was later organised in which the family raised Ksh500,000 to fly the children to India in August 2022.
Upon arriving in India, the officer's children underwent several tests before conducting the bone marrow transplant. Barasa's transplant operation did not go as planned, which prompted the doctors to redo the surgery.
“He caught infections causing him pain in the stomach, chest, joints, headaches, passing blood-stained urine, and vomiting.
"Doctors told me this was a complication as the body killed the new cells," she stated before pointing out that the reverse operation has stabilised his condition at the moment.
Barasa's medical bill hit Ksh4 million - which was initially catered for by the NHIF cover before the directive by the government took effect.
However, Chepng'etich noted that her last-born daughter is expected to undergo the transplant and another Ksh4 million is needed. She decried that since the NHIF directive, she was left to settle the bill.
“The new insurer has no contract with the hospital where my children were being treated and paid for by NHIF. I’m now on my own in a foreign country with the support of a few family and colleagues," she highlighted.
The new directive, which took effect on January 1, 2023, saw police revoke their NHIF subscription over alleged high service costs.
