Nairobi, May 5 -- Kenya's new health insurer has more members, charges more money, and is losing billions. The old one, with fewer members and lower premiums, ran a surplus.

When the government replaced the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) with the Social Health Authority (SHA) in 2024, the pitch to Kenyans was straightforward: NHIF had failed, and a new, better-designed scheme would cover more people, offer broader benefits, and put health insurance on a sustainable footing.

Two years after SHA replaced NHIF, the scheme is spending far more than it is collecting, and hospitals, patients and lawmakers are feeling it.

According to the recently released Economic Survey 2026, the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), the contributory ...