Post Retirement Fund to benefit retirees launched

An innovative savings product that allows you to pre-fund health care for use upon retirement has been launched. The Anaya Post-Retirement Health Care Fund is a partnership between APA insurance, Apollo Asset Management.

The insurance scheme that has been there for the last five years covers health benefits for the retiree and provides a favourable paying method for all under the gold, silver, bronze and platinum membership.

The retirement fund was developed in response to a trend analysis report backed by Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA), which revealed that medical bills are among the key expense items that prove the most challenging for retirees living on a lower income.

This is expounded by the increasing health expenditure, which has grown to Kshs. 73.2billion by 2015, while the percentage of admissions for people over 65 stood at 34% in 2013 compared to 25% a decade ago.

Initially, most generation of workers relied on employer-provided pensions but with the current change, many workers have been forced to rely on their own work-related and personal savings plus other investments.

Dr. Edward Odundo, the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) CEO said, “We at RBA are proud to have witnessed amendment of the law that allows workers to start saving for their medical insurance before retiring. This ensures that they are better prepared to comfortably meet their healthcare needs and access hospitals of their choice for chronic, pre-existing and high-risk conditions.”

With contributions as low as Kshs. 2000 per month, members of the Anaya Post-Retirement Health Care Fund will have access to quality healthcare services from over 200 hospitals locally and abroad. The healthcare fund will pay for insurance cover for members hence relieving them of the financial burden of bills incurred in the specified hospitals.

The healthcare is expected to cover all diseases including high-risk pre-existing conditions that are not ordinarily covered by conventional health insurance covers for senior citizens such as cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure.