NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 23 — Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has urged President William Ruto to reconsider the government’s Social Health Authority (SHA) programme and restore the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), arguing that the President should apply the same reasoning behind his recent reversal of the university funding model.Reacting to President Ruto’s announcement that the government plans to abandon the controversial means-tested higher education funding model in favour of universal funding for all university and college students, Khalwale said the administration should also revisit its healthcare financing reforms.Khalwale argued that just as the government had acknowledged shortcomings in the higher education financing model, it should also listen to Kenyans who believe the transition from NHIF to SHA has created challenges in accessing healthcare.“When I publicly condemned this university education funding model and the system of SHA, while serving as the Government Chief Whip, I was labelled as a rebel by State House court jesters,” Khalwale said.“Mr President, William Ruto, it is also not too late for you to reconsider the system of SHA.”The senator’s remarks come days after President Ruto announced plans to introduce universal government funding for all students admitted to universities and colleges, effectively abandoning the differentiated funding model introduced in 2023.Speaking at State House, the President admitted that the means-tested model had failed to achieve its intended objectives.“We tried the differentiated model. It didn’t work because it made most of our universities almost close down,” Ruto said, adding that the government had submitted amendments to Parliament to anchor the new funding framework in law.This comes as some Kenyans have continued to express concerns over the implementation of SHA and have argued that the former NHIF system better served patients.The government, however, has maintained that the transition to SHA is expanding access to healthcare under the Universal Health Coverage programme.Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi on June told Parliament that more than 31.2 million Kenyans have registered under SHA, a significant increase from the approximately eight million beneficiaries previously covered under NHIF. He said the government had also established 228 Primary Care Networks, recruited more than 107,000 Community Health Promoters and allocated Sh4 billion to clear verified NHIF claims owed to healthcare providers.The NHIF was formally replaced by the Social Health Authority on October 1, 2024, following Cabinet approval, with the government describing the reforms as central to achieving Universal Health Coverage.