For too long, Kenyans have treated pension savings and healthcare planning as separate conversations, only to discover in old age that a pension pay-out disappears within months of a serious diagnosis. It is the difference between a dignified retirement and a health emergency that wipes out a lifetime of savings within weeks. That the growth in these medical contributions dwarfs the 29 percent rise in overall pension contributions tells its own story. Chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer, which tend to intensify with age, do not respect retirement dates, and the cost of managing them over a decade or two of old age can be ruinous without dedicated cover. The vast majority of retirees are still walking into old age with no dedicated medical cushion at all.