The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has given the management of the Social Health Authority (SHA) seven days to address the issue of teachers being detained in hospitals due to unpaid medical bills, or Kuppet will call a nationwide strike.
The union also wants the SHA management to clarify the accreditation status of medical facilities, saying many teachers are being turned away and denied treatment at numerous hospitals.
According to the union, at least 14 teachers are currently detained in hospitals across the country over unpaid bills due to failures in the SHA system.
“We are therefore giving SHA management a notice of seven days to engage us, otherwise we shall be calling our members to be on the streets because this system isn’t working,” KUPPET secretary general Akello Misori told journalists.
Over 400,000 teachers were in December 2025 transitioned to a medical insurance cover under the SHA, but they now tell of challenges they encounter while trying to get their hospital bills paid, raising questions over the scheme effectiveness of their new scheme.
During the transition, teachers’ unions indicated that the arrangement would be reviewed after three months to decide on whether to continue with it or not.
Mr Misori noted that it was unfair and unacceptable that teachers had to bear the brunt of a medical system despite being the biggest contributors, both through statutory deductions under SHA and through a separate managed medical scheme administered by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
Mr Misosi highlighted the case of f Alex Ngari, a teacher at Ofafa Jericho Junior School who was injured in an accident last month during KUPPET branch elections at City Primary School. He is currently detained at Aga Khan University Hospital over a medical bill of about Sh2.5 million despite having been cleared for discharge last week.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Secretary General Akello Misori (centre) addresses the media flanked by union officials after a consultative meeting at Sports View, Kasarani, Nairobi, on March 3, 2026, where they outlined resolutions on teachers’ welfare, CBA implementation, promotions, deployment and education funding, and called for urgent government engagement.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation
His hospital bill had ballooned to Sh4.02 million, of which SHA has paid Sh1 million, while the union together with teachers has raised Sh1.5 million to help offset the cost, leaving a balance of Sh2.5 million.
“We would rather go back to Minet because we were not compelled to come to address media in hospitals. This one is not working for us. It has occasioned us to leave all our duties and responsibilities to come here and this is not acceptable,” he said.
In December last year, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) signed the agreement that terminated teachers earlier medical insurance cover that was administered by Minet Kenya and joined the SHA.
“I had a terrible flu, tightness in the chest and a fever. When I went to the hospital, I was asked to pay part of the bill and told that SHA would cover the rest. This was after I had first gone to another hospital where the previous medical cover had always worked, only to be told that SHA was not operational there,” said Mary Wanjala a teacher in Bungoma.
Data from KUPPET shows that at least 14 teachers are stranded in hospitals due to challenges accessing services under SHA. According to Kuppet officials, affected teachers have been forced to either pay for treatment either in cash or seek alternative facilities, or delay medical care altogether.
“The health cover under SHA is not working at all and is not giving our teachers the comfort, we anticipated when we were assured that this facility would work. We cannot be subjected to opening paybill numbers to address hospital bills when teachers are the heaviest taxed members of the public service who contribute to SHA. In terms of our contributions, we are the ones sustaining SHA, and we cannot accept a situation where we are organising harambees yet we did not have these arrangements before," said Akelo Misori, KUPPET secretary-general.
The Social inpatient cover ranges between Sh2,240 and Sh4,480 per day for up to 180 days per household, while maternity services are capped at Sh10,000 for normal delivery and Sh30,000 for Caesarean section.
Cancer treatment is covered up to Sh400,000 per member per year, while renal dialysis is set at Sh10,650 per session for up to two sessions per week. Overseas treatment is capped at Sh500,000, while critical care services such as ICU or HDU are funded at Sh28,000 per day for up to 12 days.
From left: Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Secretary General Akello Misori, Chairman Omboko Milemba, and National Vice Chairman Julius Korir address journalists during a press conference along 3rd Parklands Avenue in Nairobi on March 5, 2026.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
The scheme also includes additional limits for specialised services such as MRI scans at Sh11,000, CT scans at Sh6,900, and major surgery covered up to Sh280,000, according to the presentation.
“SHA has received a small number of isolated reports of teachers experiencing challenges when accessing care. These cases are not widespread or systemic and do not reflect the intended operation of the scheme,” SHA CEO Mercy Mwangangi told Nation.
Hesbon Otieno, the deputy secretary-general of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), called on stakeholders to ensure teachers are not denied treatment due to system failures under SHA.
Mr Otieno said although the SHA deal was expected to be reviewed after three months, the union had initially planned to observe its implementation for about six months before giving a comprehensive assessment.
“The system failure is not curing our sickness. Teachers should have a way of being treated even as the systems are being corrected. Teachers cannot wait. Our executive secretaries were calling us saying teachers were not being attended to because of the delay. The Secretary-General spoke to the director of SHA who confirmed that there had been system delays,” Mr Otieno said.
Across several counties, teachers have raised concerns over delays in approvals for specialised treatment, referral challenges and confusion surrounding benefit limits. Some private hospitals have reportedly declined to admit SHA patients, citing administrative bottlenecks and delayed reimbursements.
“We are still facing serious challenges. The problems have not gone away. It always comes down to money. we are now being told that the Treasury has not released funds. It is always money, money, money and in the meantime, our teachers are the ones suffering. We are going to meet and assess the situation. By the end of this month, we will come up with a review because teachers cannot continue like this,” said KNUT secretary-general Collins Oyuu.
Under the current budget estimates, TSC proposed Sh16.5 billion for teachers’ medical cover under SHA. However, the Commission has indicated that the allocation may not be adequate given the recruitment of additional teachers and the size of the beneficiary pool.
Ibala Inyeni, the Organising Secretary of Vihiga branch of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), said teachers are struggling to access medical services under the Social Health Authority (SHA) scheme. Mr Inyeni said delays in approvals for medical tests and frequent system downtimes have left many teachers stranded in hospitals.
“The level of frustration among teachers is very high. Even now, there are delays in approvals for tests, and in many cases the system is down. Teachers cannot access medical services smoothly. In some cases, a teacher goes to hospital, but the approval for basic tests takes too long or fails to come through entirely. On top of that, the system keeps going down, which means hospitals cannot verify or process the cover. That leaves our members stranded at very critical moments.”
He noted that while there were concerns under the previous medical insurance arrangement, the current situation has created even more uncertainty.
“Previously, the issue was mainly about negotiations and the range of facilities that were recognized by the insurance provider. But now the problem is more serious because it directly affects access. If the system is down or approvals are delayed, the teacher simply cannot get services. It becomes a life-and-death matter in some instances,” said Mr Inyeni.
KUPPET Chairman Omboko Milemba said earlier assurances that teachers would access treatment in over 9,000 hospitals and be served through dedicated desks at health facilities have turned out to be false.
“Instead teachers are being chased away from hospitals and they are breaking their part of the bargain. In Bungoma only two hospitals are accepting patients meaning that 898 are not” he said.
He cited cases at St Catherine Hospital in Kasarani and St Francis Community Hospital where the SHA is allegedly encouraging teachers struggling with medical bills to sign payment agreements with hospitals, including surrendering title deeds as surety.
