The Rural and Private Hospitals Association (RUPHA) has warned that over 3,000 private and faith-based hospitals across the country may be forced to shut down by December due to the government’s failure to settle the Ksh76 billion debt in the healthcare sector.
Speaking during an interview with NTV on Monday, September 8, 2025, RUPHA chair Brian Lishenga warned that the reluctance of the Ministry of Health to address this debt owed to private hospitals is continuously crippling the ability of the facilities to operate effectively.
According to the association, the government owes Ksh33 billion to private hospitals under the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and an additional Ksh43 billion under the Social Health Authority (SHA), which amounts to Ksh76 billion.
Lishenga further cautioned that private hospitals may also opt to revert to cash payments, a move that could compromise the effectiveness of SHA because many Kenyans would likely stop making their contributions to the authority.
"The health sector cannot continue bearing this burden because right now we are Ksh76 billion in debt, and if this money is not paid by the government, it is very likely that by December you will not have private hospitals where the majority of Kenyans go, or the entire system will revert to 100 per cent cash," Lishenga said.
"We are scared that SHA will collapse because if this is not sorted out and all hospitals, the ones private and faith-based, start asking Kenyans to pay out of pocket, you will have a vicious cycle. Kenyans will be saying, 'I have SHA, why am I being asked to pay out of pocket?'" he added.
The government should also fast-track the verification process of all healthcare providers to whom the government owes large amounts of money under NHIF, according to RUPHA.
On his part, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale assured that the government will clear all pending bills owed to health facilities under NHIF in the next two months.
Speaking in Kakamega on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, Duale said that the clearance of the pending bills to all hospitals, which is under the directive of President William Ruto, will be made immediately after the National Treasury introduces a supplementary budget.
The health boss said that the first repayment of the bills, which amounts to Ksh5.3 billion, will be made to hospitals that the government owes between Ksh1 million and Ksh10 million.
However, the government has formed an independent team, outside the Ministry of Health, to verify all pending bills that exceed Ksh10 million before settling them, according to the CS.
"And these pending bills of the NHIF are why we had to close NHIF and start SHA, because it was a den of graft, where patients' money, which is immoral and unconstitutional, and we will not allow it to go forward," Duale stated.
"Anybody with a pending bill of NHIF from Ksh1 million to Ksh10 million, which totals Ksh5.3 billion, accounting for 92 per cent of the entire NHIF bill, as a government under the directive of the president, we will pay it in the next two months," he added.
