AAR Insurance has been trending on twitter for all the wrong reasons with angry Kenyans taking a jab at its fraudulent insurance scheme that defaults on its clients’ health covers.
In a lengthy Facebook post Boniface Mwangi narrated his encounter with the Insurance firm that exposed the firm’s fraudulence, prompting victims to lodge more complaints on social media.
According to the Activist, in October 2017, a police officer shot at him with a teargas canister at a close range. He was treated at Kenyatta Hospital and discharged, but later on developed a large swelling on his breast, where the canister hit him. After healing he was left with a big cyst, that had to be surgically removed this year.
After securing an appointment with the doctor, his insurer whom he has been a loyal member to since 2010 agreed to foot the bill. He later received a phone call from his insurer informing him that they will not pay for his surgery, as they considered the cyst to be a pre-existing condition. The insurer also told him that they considered him as a new client because his cover had lapsed for 3 months last year at the point of renewal.
The two parties settled for a rejection from the medical insurer in writing and, to be followed by a call that never came through once it was ready. Lucky for him the hospital was kind enough to release him without payment to avoid accumulation of additional hospital bills he agreed to settle in time.
” Health insurance companies in Kenya take our personal health for granted, especially when people with valid medical covers are denied healthcare. There are health insurance companies who are still collecting premiums, but you cannot use their cover in any of the private hospitals because these insurers simply don’t honor their obligations. The reason health insurance companies can do that and get away with it is because we have very weak protection laws,” he noted
To sanitize their mess, AAR Insurance hired bloggers to push #AARInsuranceFacts, a sloppy move that has not augured well with Kenyans on Twitter. Most felt that using bloggers to restore their reputation was uncalled for. Rather they should have handled the complaint launche by the activist, by covering his medical bill.
