How many dialysis sessions does SHA cover per week?

SHA has not stated a specific weekly session cap in the SHIF or ECCIF fund pages we could reach at the 26 August 2026 fetch. Under the old NHIF, the widely cited benefit was 2 sessions per week. Whether SHA has kept that, moved to a different cap, or removed the cap needs primary verification from SHA. Do not treat the NHIF number as if it were the SHA number. Phone 0800 720 601 with the dialysis prescription (weekly session count and expected duration) and ask for the SHA-covered portion in writing.

Which SHA fund pays for dialysis?

SHIF names a renal care package covering dialysis, medications, catheterisation, laboratory tests, counselling, and ongoing care for kidney disease patients. ECCIF covers critical escalation (ICU, HDU) and chronic illness management, and it covers emergency access regardless of active status. In practice, routine chronic dialysis bills SHIF, while an acute admission with kidney failure that lands in ICU bills ECCIF as critical illness care.

Where can I get dialysis under SHA?

SHA maintains a contracted facilities list at sha.go.ke/contracted-facilities. Major public referral hospitals with renal units are contracted by default; selected private dialysis units are individually contracted. We deliberately do not name specific private units here because contracting status changes without notice. Confirm at the SHA source before starting a session series at a facility that is new to you.

Does SHA cover a kidney transplant?

SHIF names organ transplants under its surgical services package. Whether kidney transplant is fully covered end-to-end, at what tariff, and with what pre-transplant workup included, sits in the benefit tariffs document. At the 26 August 2026 fetch that document was not reachable in HTML form on our request. Do not assume full end-to-end cover from a leaflet or secondary source; get the SHA-billed portion in writing from the transplant unit before proceeding.

SHA kidney dialysis Kenya 2026: sessions & costs

A note on tone before we start. This guide is written for people on chronic dialysis or the families who support them. Missed sessions carry real medical consequences. What follows is factual information about the SHA system as of 26 August 2026, without exaggeration in either direction. Where a specific figure is not verifiable at primary source, we say so and point to the SHA helpline.

Which fund pays for dialysis

SHA runs three funds. Dialysis crosses two of them:

Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) covers the renal care package: dialysis, medications, catheterisation, laboratory tests, counselling, and ongoing care for kidney disease patients [Source 1]. Financed by the 2.75% member contribution. Requires active SHA status.
Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund (ECCIF) covers ICU, HDU, and critical illness escalation. It covers emergency treatment regardless of active member status. It also names chronic illness management under its scope [Source 2]. Publicly funded.

Umbrella guide on ECCIF: SHA for chronic and emergency conditions. Full fund breakdown: what SHA actually covers.

What SHA names in the renal package

From SHA's SHIF benefits page (26 August 2026 fetch), the renal care package is described as providing: dialysis, medications, catheterisation, laboratory tests, counselling, and ongoing care for kidney disease patients. Alongside the renal package, SHIF's specialised laboratory services cover advanced tests including for kidney disease. Surgical services under SHIF include organ transplants and their postoperative care [Source 1].

On the ECCIF side, cover extends to critical illness escalation (ICU, HDU, PICU, NICU, burns unit) and palliative care [Source 2]. That is where an acute admission with renal failure would sit if the patient is in ICU rather than on the ward.

Where we mark unverified

Pre-authorisation for dialysis series

Chronic dialysis is a scheduled series of sessions per week over an indefinite period, not a one-off admission. SHA operates pre-authorisation for chronic-care pathways to control claims integrity. In practice:

The renal unit should have a rolling SHA pre-authorisation reference against your file, refreshed on the cycle SHA requires.
Ask for the current authorisation reference at the start of each week.
If a session is delayed on pre-authorisation grounds, get the reason in writing before you leave the unit. It is what an appeal is built on. See how to appeal a rejected SHA claim.
Keep your SHA active on Paybill 200222. A lapse mid-series introduces a variable that the renal unit cannot fix for you. If a payment has not reflected, see SHA payment not reflecting.

Where you can be treated

SHA's contracted facilities list at sha.go.ke/contracted-facilities is the authoritative source. The general pattern without naming specific private units:

Major public referral and county hospitals with established renal units are contracted for dialysis by default.
Selected private dialysis units are individually contracted. The list changes. Confirm at the SHA source.
Faith-based hospitals with renal units are contracted case by case.

We deliberately do not name specific private dialysis units here. Contracting status changes and being wrong on that in a chronic-care context is a real cost to a real family. See which hospitals accept SHA for the general lookup pathway.

Where the SHA-and-private-hospital gap shows up

Dialysis is one of the areas where the gap between the SHA tariff and the private unit's gross session fee is felt week after week. SHA pays at the tariff. A contracted private renal unit typically charges a higher gross fee per session. The difference is a member co-pay. Over a year of twice-weekly dialysis, small per-session gaps become large annual gaps. See SHA and private hospitals: what you may still owe.

Practical points for chronic dialysis:

Get the per-session SHA-covered portion and the per-session member portion in writing before signing onto a private unit's programme.
Compare to the nearest contracted public renal unit as a baseline.
Consider private insurance stacked on top of SHA where the policy allows.

If the session cap is reached

A hard scenario, and one families do face. Options:

Continue at a public referral hospital where the balance may be subsidised by government funding channels outside SHA.
Engage the hospital social worker; most large hospitals have a social-work office that navigates support programmes.
Cross-check the interpretation with SHA before accepting a cap-reached position; a coding error may have exhausted the wrong benefit line. Use the appeals route: how to appeal a rejected SHA claim.
If the unit refuses service on the cap or arrears grounds and the patient is in acute need, escalate: what to do when a hospital refuses SHA. Emergency access under ECCIF does not depend on active status.
Ask about transfer to a public unit where continuity of the dialysis prescription can be maintained without the cap being a limiting factor in the same way.

Kidney transplant under SHA

Kidney transplant is a specialised surgical service. SHIF names organ transplants under its surgical services package [Source 1]. The specifics (which units are contracted for transplant, what pre-transplant workup is covered, whether the donor workup is covered, post-transplant immunosuppression cover) sit in the benefit tariffs document. Do not proceed on the basis of a leaflet. Get the SHA-billed portion of the transplant and the ongoing immunosuppression cover in writing from the transplant unit before scheduling.

Practical guidance for patients and families

Keep SHA active every month; a chronic-dialysis prescription needs SHA to be uninterrupted.
Keep a single-page summary with your National ID: dialysis prescription (sessions per week, dry weight, vascular access, current medications), SHA member number, current authorisation reference, unit name and phone number.
Save 0800 720 601 in your phone. Save the unit's number. Save the treating nephrologist's number if given.
If a payment is not reflecting on your SHA record, address it the same day; do not wait for the next session to discover it. See SHA payment not reflecting.

Sources

SHA Social Health Insurance Fund: sha.go.ke/social-health-insurance-fund, accessed 26 August 2026. Renal care package named: dialysis, medications, catheterisation, laboratory tests, counselling, and ongoing care for kidney disease patients. Surgical services include organ transplants.
SHA Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund: sha.go.ke/emergency-chronic-critical-illness-fund, accessed 26 August 2026. Critical illness (ICU, HDU) named; chronic illness management named; emergency access regardless of status.
SHA benefit tariffs: sha.go.ke/benefit-tariffs, accessed 26 August 2026 (page not reachable in HTML form on our request; authoritative for line-item tariffs and session caps).
SHA contracted facilities: sha.go.ke/contracted-facilities.
Social Health Insurance Act 2023 establishing SHA and the three-fund architecture.
SHA toll-free helpline 0800 720 601.
Kenya Renal Association and the Kenya National Kidney Foundation for patient support context.