(NAIROBI, KENYA) – Kenya’s Social Health Authority has extended the deadline for healthcare providers to sign contracts with the State agency to 14th October, allowing hospitals, clinics and medical practitioners to treat registered scheme members and claim reimbursements.
The authority said Healthcare Provider Contracts that expired on 30th September 2026 will remain valid during the extended signing window.
Providers who accept the extension will continue serving patients registered in the scheme, while those who decline must liaise with SHA county managers to transfer patients under treatment to other contracted facilities.
“Providers shall be issued with an extension to the HCP contract ending 30th September 2026 to cover the 14-day extension period accessed through the e-contracting platform,” Mercy Mwangangi, SHA chief executive officer, said in a notice. “Providers are required to confirm acceptance, sign, and return the agreement within three days to ensure continuity of services to SHA beneficiaries. Service provision to SHA beneficiaries will only continue in facilities that accept the 14-day extension period.”
“Providers who may not accept the extension should proceed to make arrangements with their respective SHA county managers on transfer of patients receiving ongoing care to contracted providers to ensure continuity of treatment,” the notice dated 1st October 2026 added.
The extension gives hospitals, clinics and other healthcare providers more time to join the 2026 to 2029 HAKIKA cycle, which sets the terms for providing services to SHA beneficiaries for the next three years.
The HAKIKA cycle runs from 1st October 2026 to 30th June 2029 and was launched by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale in September alongside the e-contracting platform. It follows the inaugural 2024 to 2026 cycle.
The plan sets out the services providers can offer, as well as benefit packages, negotiated tariffs, reimbursement terms, claims processing, reporting requirements and quality standards.
Some healthcare providers have raised concerns over provisions relating to claims payments and deductions arising from claims audits, as well as the conditions attached to the SHA’s obligation to pay claims.
The new framework follows concerns raised during the first 2024 to 2026 cycle regarding tariffs, delayed claim payments, pre-authorisation, system reliability and empanelment.
According to the Ministry of Health, the new system is intended to provide clearer terms on reimbursement, benefits, quality standards and dispute resolution.
Providers complete the process through the SHA’s e-contracting platform, where they submit documents, verify licences, provide service and banking details, and track their applications.
The SHA had warned that facilities without completed agreements for the 2026 to 2029 cycle would lose access to beneficiaries from 1st October and have their provider portal access switched off.
As of 1st October, 10,006 providers had expressed interest in the new cycle and were at various stages of the process. This was up from 7,244 providers on 27th September, an increase of 2,762 in four days. Level 2 facilities accounted for 3,512 of the earlier applications, followed by Level 3A with 1,751 applications and Level 3B with 885 applications.