REVEALED: Why SHA Cannot Pay For Overseas Treatment Yet
Kenyans seeking specialised treatment overseas will continue to pay medical fees out of pocket despite subscribing to the Social Health Insurance Fund, after the Social Health Authority (SHA) declared it would not reimburse foreign hospitals.
Mercy Mwangangi, Chief Executive Officer of SHA, stated that the authority cannot lawfully remit funds to overseas facilities until a legal and proper procurement process has been completed.
Mwangangi made this statement while testifying before the National Assembly Public Investments Committee on Social Services on Wednesday, February 11.
“SHA can only pay a contracted facility. As SHA stands right now, we have no contracts with any management or treatment facility in India or any other countries,” she stated.
She said that, unlike the former NHIF, which used a guarantee-of-payment strategy to engage foreign hospitals, SHA is compelled to follow public procurement laws before entering into partnerships with overseas facilities.
“NHIF had a different methodology of contracting hospitals abroad. They issued what was known as a guarantee of payment to a certain number of hospitals before,” Mwangangi added.
“Now we have to follow the procurement process in accordance with the law.”
She stated that the effort to follow the procurement process was intended to avoid fraudulent claims and prevent hospitals from seeking payment for services that they had not provided.
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However, she told Kenyans that the body had already begun talks with foreign hospitals to guarantee that SHA would begin funding overseas treatment costs.
The contractual procedure is planned to be finished by the end of March 2026, at which point the government will publish a list of authorized hospitals abroad that are eligible to provide SHA services.
“When we complete the procurement process, we will publish the names of those facilities, whether in India, Turkey or Germany, with which SHA has contracted and has agreements with,” she said.
She added that patients seeking treatment abroad will be able to obtain up to Ksh 500,000 through the overseas package.
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She stated that the government is engaging hospitals in several countries and not just India, which has long been a key destination for Kenyans seeking treatment abroad.
Her statement followed Health CS Aden Duale’s earlier directive in 2025 when he noted that the government was going to tighten controls on referrals overseas under SHA.
He suspended the process, noting that it would resume after new regulations were implemented.
Until then, Kenyans travelling outside the country for specialised care will have to meet the costs independently, a situation likely to pile financial pressure on families seeking advanced treatment unavailable locally.
REVEALED: Why SHA Cannot Pay For Overseas Treatment Yet
