Social Health Authority (SHA) provides access to a broad range of medical services, including primary and inpatient care, diagnostic tests, imaging, vaccination and specialised treatment.
Speaking to Radio Generation on Wednesday, SHA Assistant Director for Registration and Compliance Dr Gilbert Osoro said the authority had more than 10,000 empanelled and contracted healthcare providers across the country, allowing members to access services through the expanded health financing system.
"SHA is the mother of all insurances because we offer affordable, accessible, flexible healthcare that is available in the 47 counties. We have in excess of 10,000 providers that are empanelled and contracted," Dr Osoro stated.
The comments come as the government continues to expand the SHA system, which replaced the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) as part of wider reforms aimed at achieving Universal Health Coverage.
The Ministry of Health said in August that more than 32.3 million people had registered with SHA, representing about 55% of Kenya's population. It also reported that the reforms had supported more than 20 million outpatient visits involving 15 million people, over 1.2 million safe deliveries and about 500,000 surgical procedures.
The ministry said more than 50,000 cancer patients and nearly 21,000 people requiring dialysis had received support through the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund.
Dr Osoro maintained that SHA's expanded package was intended to address inequalities in access to healthcare while linking contributions to people's ability to pay.
He argued that the previous NHIF system charged members different fixed contributions, regardless of their income, and that the new system uses a 2.75% contribution structure for salaried households, while non-salaried households are assessed through proxy means testing.
"That's why they came up with a flat rate of 2.75%. I know Kenyans ask why the 2.75%. We are saying we want to ensure people contribute as per their income, so that the man who is down there does not feel he has been overtaxed to subsidise a well-to-do person."
The Assistant Director further argued that more than 13 million Kenyans had undergone means testing, although irregular incomes remained a challenge for some people working in the informal sector.
He said SHA's coverage goes beyond treating illnesses to include preventive and promotive healthcare.
"Under primary healthcare, we do have acute and chronic conditions treated there. We have lab investigations, imaging, and when I'm talking of imaging, I'm talking of MRI, CT scan. We have the latest technology in town, PET CT scan for cancer patients," he said.
He argued that the package also covers vaccination, health and wellness services and management of different health conditions.
"We cannot talk of Universal Health Coverage(UHC) attainment without talking of preventive, promotive, wellness education. We want to move away from curative interventions when you are chronically ill, but we arrest disease before it becomes catastrophic by doing preventive, promotive health," Osoro maintained.
The Ministry of Health says the reforms are designed to strengthen primary healthcare and reduce households' exposure to high medical costs. In June, the ministry reported that SHA had registered 31.39 million Kenyans, contracted 11,034 health facilities and paid Sh147.37 billion in claims.
Dr Osoro further stated that inpatient services under the package include medical consultations, room and nursing care, radiological examinations, medicines, physiotherapy and administration of blood and blood products.
The Ministry of Health has also proposed expanded benefits for maternal, newborn and child healthcare, as well as increased support for cancer and chronic illnesses under the 2026 tariff reforms.
SHA's framework is administered through three funds: the Primary Healthcare Fund, Social Health Insurance Fund, and Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund.
The reforms are intended to shift Kenya's healthcare system towards preventive care while expanding financial protection and access to treatment.