The Ministry of Health is pushing for an additional Sh6 billion to reinforce critical healthcare programmes under the Social Health Authority (SHA), with a focus on primary healthcare and financial support for emergency and chronic illnesses.

Medical Services Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai made the case before the National Assembly’s Health Committee on Thursday, defending the ministry’s budget allocations and justifying the need for additional resources.

He revealed that SHA has already registered 20.2 million Kenyans, reinforcing the need for increased funding to sustain free services at level 1, 2, and 3 hospitals.

“Primary healthcare is not restricted to public facilities. It goes to faith-based, private, and all facilities that have been contracted at levels 2 and 3. They are entitled,” Kimtai said.

Cancer patients to receive more funding

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SHA benefits, he added, are being adjusted upwards depending on financial availability.

One of the key revisions is in oncology care, where patients will now receive Sh550,000 for cancer treatment—an increase from the previous Sh400,000 limit.

"When you have paid your premiums wherever you are at level 4, 5, 6 and you are receiving Cancer treatment, the benefit package that you are entitled to is Sh550,000 and not Sh400,000 that was published," Kimtai told the committee.

A gazette notice formalising the adjustment has already been submitted, paving the way for implementation.

Scrutiny over transparency in payments

While the ministry defended SHA’s progress, lawmakers raised concerns over a lack of transparency in how healthcare providers are paid under the new system.

They noted that unlike the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), the current setup does not allow hospitals to track specific payments.

Health Committee Vice Chair Patrick Munene noted that hospitals were unable to track disbursements under the new system, unlike the previous National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), which allowed them to monitor payments for specific patients.

"Visibility in the system by the provider that you are just paying money blanketly, they don't know what has been paid. You can't explain what has been paid because they can't view the system. But in NHIF, you were able to say you have been paid Sh2 million for this patient, Sh200,000 for this patient," Munene stated.

In response, SHA Acting CEO Robert Ngasira assured the committee that measures were being put in place to enhance transparency.

"We have agreed that we will publish the amounts we are paying to healthcare providers, and this will include all facilities that we are paying. This will help the public and any other interested party to know how much has been paid to which provider for what purpose," he said.

Treasury under fire over funding delays

Even as the debate over SHA’s transparency continued, another issue took centre stage—the Treasury’s failure to release funds on time.

Lawmakers and ministry officials expressed frustration over delays in disbursements, which have affected operations in healthcare facilities across the country.

Kimtai acknowledged the challenges SHA has faced since its rollout and reiterated that the ministry is working to resolve them.

He assured the committee that benefit packages would continue to be reviewed and adjusted based on available funds.

"In the event that you exhaust the emergency and chronic illness fund, the ICCIF comes in to take care of additional treatment," he said.

"I think the ministry is finalizing the tariffs and we had agreed that most of the areas that had been raised by the public will be addressed by that committee supported by computations that will affect the money that will be coming in and going out," he added.

The discussion now shifts to Parliament, where lawmakers will decide whether to approve the additional funding request.