Just imagine...And KQ has her 8m...and since KQ has refused to clear the bills all the family is asking for is for KQ to clear the bill with her benefits!!! Very very cruel!!! I am sure Naikuni is not aware of this!

While I don't like to see people suffer, I tend to differ - In fact I disagree with you.

If the illness that led to her death was occupational in nature, then maybe the family can stake a claim fo payment of medical bills and evn more damages. However, if it was illness that would have caught her regardless of whether she worked for the hospital, jobless or otherwise then the family should blame itself for not keeping a tab on the limits of the group medical insurance afforded to her her employer.

second, there is a procedure for paying out terminal dues - and this must be followed, although I double a death permit is part of it...

This is one of those cases where because of ignorance, you find out you are on the wrong end of the stick and then because "KQ has money", you run to a neighbour or relative who is a journalist to propel the company in bad light. The family itself has admitted that if they knew of the limits being exhausted, they'd have opted for a govt hospital. even the deceased, having worked for company for 26 years should have understood the policy well enough to advise her family on the limits.

Its funny that you condemn state funerals on one thread and then support similar type of payoffs on another. Kama limits zimeisha, the family workmates and friends should fundraise and clear the bill or push for the release of the terminal dues (rather unfortunate if the deceased has deserving dependants like children under 18 years of age or those still in school/college) to clear the bill.

Perfect case of scribes for hire.

Furthermore; the bulk of so-called terminal dues are pension benefits and these are protected by the RBA Act. They cannot be deducted for any reason whatsoever. Thus if the employee had exhausted her medical allowance and the airline pays the excess, it CANNOT deduct the excess amount from the terminal dues!

So, the airline must decide whether to be sufficiently philanthropic and just pay out without expecting a refund. Now do you think that such a decision can be made by the HR manager alone? Remember, it's sh6m! Very large for him to decide without consultation.

But when the matter goes to higher authorities, it turns out that as @Njung'e rightly says, the amount is too little to be given priority! So it takes too long to be decided upon!

@njungu, well put. bad publicity is not good for business any time. However there is more to it than meets the eye. By the time the bill is clocking millis i imagine the hospital had feelers of who is paying. They will throw u out faster than u think the moment they suspect the insurance or the company involved is based along Wagi wa Mbeca Street

@Njunge. I am not a PR monkey let alone being one for Hire. My views, sentiments aside, are just that and I wouldn't think any different even if I had a second lifetime. A society that thrives on blackmail is a sick society; if the action of the family is based on the premise that to avoid bad publicity, KQ will settle the bill over and beyond what the employees entitlemnst were, to me that is just blackmail. I have seen an employee of a far richer institution have to close the gap between his medical bills and the limits on his card. And at our many hospitals, there are so many more (many poorer, and some with their infants) patients detained due to pending bills- Is this one special because she worked for a big corporate?

If you believe in blackmail, like most Kenyans do then you are likely to comment the way most of the comments you want me to go by read. And another disclaimer is that my views are based on the way the story is presented in that newspaper article.

I believe, like chirascuro said, that if you dig deeper, you may find that the correspondent has a "more than arms-length" relationship with either the deceased.

I doubt it... if the airline refuses to pay the excess and the family insists that they cannot afford it, I see them holding onto the body for indeterminate periods, na kama ni mimi, I would tell them to keep it, after all mtu wetu ameshaenda.

I should have mentioned that they dont do that to kill the patient. Death just complicates matters unnecessarily.

For example, if your health cover was 500k, they will try to get it all or as much of it as possible with all sorts of medication, procedures etc but not anything illegal.

When they are doing that, you will be blowing kisses at them for all the care and attention they are giving you.

In this case, one of the hospital employees dropped the ball. He was to inform the next of kin in good time that the cover was running out so that they (the kin) can ship out their relative out of their premises if they see they can't manage payments. He did not or they did not. The bill accrued. The patient died.

Its all in a days work, but the bill will be settled, one way or another.

Ps

If you ever get admitted especially in a private facility, its handy to have a trustworthy and knowledgeable medic checking in on you regularly with an eye on the charts. At most he just might save your life and at least save some of your money for you while at it.

Its just an advice from a friendly insider wazuan that you can take or reject.

my goodness

I should have mentioned that they dont do that to kill the patient. Death just complicates matters unnecessarily.

For example, if your health cover was 500k, they will try to get it all or as much of it as possible with all sorts of medication, procedures etc but not anything illegal.

When they are doing that, you will be blowing kisses at them for all the care and attention they are giving you.

In this case, one of the hospital employees dropped the ball. He was to inform the next of kin in good time that the cover was running out so that they (the kin) can ship out their relative out of their premises if they see they can't manage payments. He did not or they did not. The bill accrued. The patient died.

Its all in a days work, but the bill will be settled, one way or another.

Ps

If you ever get admitted especially in a private facility, its handy to have a trustworthy and knowledgeable medic checking in on you regularly with an eye on the charts. At most he just might save your life and at least save some of your money for you while at it.

Its just an advice from a friendly insider wazuan that you can take or reject.[/quote


You are part of the few Kenyans who understand some important issues to do with private medical institutions. Bravo.

Also always ask for an itemised medical bill, even if your insurer is settling the bills and ask those buggers to tell you what any abbreviations used in the bill mean- at times you will be shocked. Many don't especially the many fools who carry MIP cards around and are happy to spend Kshs. 1000 to travel to a 'prestigious' hospital - add time spent on the casualty queue and pharmacy for drugs which cost a sixteenth of the consultation fee- when the minor ailment can be treated at the dispensary next to his house at kshs 400.