- The Community Health Authority (SHA), which replaced the NHIF, is facing a severe cash crunch, with only five million members out of 29 million sending contributions.
- Parliament’s Health Committee warned that the program was overwhelmed by demands it could not handle, raising concerns about sustainability and poor implementation.
- MPs like Didmus Barasa say that underfunding and lack of efficiency is affecting access to health services for Kenyans and could weaken Ruto’s political standing towards 2027
Funding continues to be a major challenge for the Community Health Authority (SHA), which replaced the decades-old National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Source: Twitter
The problem was discovered by the National Health Committee of the Parliament which met in Mombasa.
How much does Sha collect?
According to the committee chaired by Seme Member of Parliament James Nyikal, the current health plan is facing failure to resolve claims due to under-submission of fee payments by members.
The committee observed that of the 29 million members who joined the SHAonly five million pay their contributions.
For the foregoing, the program is full of claims that cannot be fully covered by small contributions.
The committee noted that SHA collects more than KSh 7 billion, which cannot meet the needs of its members.
“The income that the authority collects for the three funds contained in it is not enough to meet its costs as things are now. They do not get what they can run. Therefore, income against expenses is a challenge. There is a high possibility of facing the issue of sustainability,” Nyikal said.
The Nyikal team noted that the design of the plan is comprehensive but the challenge lies in the implementation on the part of the government.
“The structure and concept are good. The problem we are going through is the problem of implementation. And I think it is about the management itself. They must address the challenge,” he said.
The committee’s concern came after some quarters, including the President’s associates William Rutoquestioning the possibility of SHA.
Has the SHA resolved the problems that arose under the NHIF?
Kimilili Member of Parliament Didmus Barasa said that the health plan has not yet addressed the shortcomings of the dead NHIF.
The Member of Parliament, while recognizing the goodwill of President Ruto and SHA, said that more than 25 million Kenyans registered under the program are struggling to access medical services due to funding challenges.
He claimed that health centers are turning patients away because of the debts owed to them by the government-run scheme.
Barasa suggested that the president should allocate more funding to the program, noting that the few Kenyans who are paid salaries and taxed to support it cannot help millions of Kenyans.
Should the National Treasury fund SHA?
The member of parliament urged the president to direct the Treasury, through the approval of the Parliament, to provide funds to SHA so that the program can work effectively.
Source: Twitter
He cautioned that inefficiencies within the scheme are undermining Ruto’s delivery efforts and could negatively impact his re-election bid in 2027.
Barasa added that Kenyans are being let down by the failures of institutions like SHA in addressing long-standing systemic problems.
He stressed that it is the government’s duty to intervene and streamline policies that fail to serve the public interest.
According to him, introducing a new health scheme that replicates the challenges of the previous NHIF would be pointless.
SHA was launched in October 2024 to improve comprehensive healthcare access for Kenyans.
It combines three key funds; the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), the Primary Healthcare Fund, and the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illnesses Fund.
However, its rollout has been plagued by controversy, with Kenyans decrying inefficiencies despite the government’s insistence that the scheme is functioning well.
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