SHA extends deadline for hospitals to review proposed contracts

The proposed Social Health Authority contracts cover the contracting period from October 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029. [File, Standard]

The Social Health Authority (SHA) has extended the deadline for healthcare providers to submit views on proposed contracts after private and faith-based hospitals asked for more time to review the documents.

SHA has extended the deadline from September 10 to 17, 2026, at 11:59pm.

The proposed contracts cover the contracting period from October 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029.

The contract applies to the Primary Health Care Fund (PHCF), Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund (ECCIF) and Public Officers Medical Scheme Fund (POMSF).

The extension was made by SHA Chief Executive Officer Mercy Mwangangi.

This follows a request by SHA contracted hospitals, to have the deadline extended.

Among the hospital associations and private hospitals that had requested for the push of deadline include the Rural and Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA), the Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK) and the Kenya Association of Private Hospitals (KAPH), which jointly asked SHA to extend the comment period by three weeks.

The associations, which represent more than 3,000 facilities across the 47 counties, had sought to have the deadline moved to October 1.

They said the proposed contracts introduced “materially revised terms, obligations and risk allocations” across the four funds, requiring providers to undertake a detailed review before signing.

“Our member facilities, close to 85 per cent of them small and medium-sized providers with limited in-house legal capacity, require adequate time to review these documents clause by clause, consult their boards and governing bodies, and, where necessary, obtain independent legal guidance on their interpretation before they can responsibly submit comments or commit their facilities to sign,” the associations said in a statement.

They said the initial deadline of September 10, which came just two days after the contracts were published, did not give providers enough time to properly review the documents.

The associations also pointed out that the deadline fell on the same day as the final sensitisation session for Level Two and Level Three facilities.

“A hurried review risks generating comments of lower quality, or facility-level decisions taken without a full understanding of the obligations assumed, with resultant defaulting on the contractual obligations,” added the hospiatls in a statement.

They said this would not serve the interests of either SHA or healthcare providers.

The associations said they supported Universal Health Coverage and the Social Health Insurance Act, 2023, and recognised SHA's responsibility to safeguard public health funds and protect the integrity of the scheme.

They also acknowledged SHA's audit of claims, saying they understood that the proposed contracts had been drafted more strictly, at least partly in response to the findings.

“We recognise the Authority's duty to safeguard the Funds and to protect the integrity of the scheme on behalf of all Kenyans,” they said.

However, they said providers needed sufficient time to understand the new obligations before committing themselves to the contracts.

“It is not our intention to delay implementation, but to ensure that when our members sign, they do so with full understanding of, and confidence in, the terms they are accepting,” added the associations.

They argued that adequate review would strengthen compliance and reduce disputes during the life of the contracts.

SHA's new deadline gives providers and other stakeholders until September 17 to submit their views, representations and written memoranda through the Authority's feedback form.

The proposed contracts are available on the Authority's website.

In a statement written by Dr Mwangangi, the new contracting cycle is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2026.