SHA hospitals face October cut-off: Inside Kenya’s new provider contracts

SHA says existing contracts with healthcare facilities will expire at 11:59pm on September 30.

Facilities without an executed contract for the new 2026 - 2029 cycle will not be allowed to provide services to SHA beneficiaries and will lose access to the SHA provider portal.

The deadline is part of SHA’s second provider-contracting cycle, following the inaugural 2024 - 2026 arrangement.

A hospital can remain open but still be unable to treat SHA beneficiaries under the scheme if it has not secured the new contract.

What is changing?

The new contracting framework, known as HAKIKA, runs from October 1, 2026, to June 30, 2029.

The Ministry of Health launched it on September 18 alongside an electronic contracting platform.

The new framework is intended to set clearer terms around benefits, tariffs, reimbursement, quality standards, claims and dispute resolution - areas that have generated complaints during SHA’s first contracting cycle.

The contracts cover services financed through the Primary Healthcare Fund, Social Health Insurance Fund, Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund, and Public Officers Medical Scheme Fund.

Providers can submit applications, upload documents, verify licences, execute agreements and track the process through the electronic platform.

But there is an important distinction - starting an application is not the same as having a contract.

SHA has warned that only facilities with executed agreements will remain eligible to serve beneficiaries from October 1.

As of September 27, 7,244 facilities had submitted expressions of interest, but SHA has stressed that an expression of interest does not constitute a contract.

Impact of the looming deadline

The deadline could affect people already receiving treatment at facilities that have not completed the new contracting process.

SHA has directed such facilities to make arrangements for patients undergoing ongoing treatment to be transferred to contracted providers, with the stated aim of avoiding interruptions in care.

This makes the issue particularly relevant for patients receiving chronic, specialist or continuing treatment.

It also means SHA members should not assume that a facility which previously accepted their cover will automatically continue doing so after October 1.

The digital requirement

The contracting deadline also comes as providers face the expiry of an extended deadline for Health Management Information System (HMIS) compliance.

Under the new arrangements, healthcare facilities are required to have their digital systems certified and integrated with the Digital Health Agency to remain eligible for SHA services.

The push is part of SHA’s wider shift towards electronic verification, claims processing and digital management of healthcare services.

For hospitals, therefore, September 30 is more than a paperwork deadline.

It determines whether they remain inside SHA’s provider network for the next three-year contracting cycle.

For patients, the practical question from October 1 will be even simpler: Is my hospital still contracted by SHA?

That answer could determine where their SHA-funded treatment can be accessed.