How Nairobi Hospital cooked crisis with 61pc increase in charges

The Nairobi Hospital has found itself in the middle of a crisis after prominent insurers issued notices that they will stop covering hospital charges that are incurred at the hospital due to high charges.

The insurance firms include Old Mutual, Britam, Madison Insurance, First Assurance, AAR, CIC, Minet, and Pacis Insurance.

“With our customers’ best interests at heart, we engaged The Nairobi Hospital in open and constructive discussions, aiming to agree on a more sustainable, volume-based model that would safeguard both quality and affordability. However, the talks failed to produce an agreement, leading to a suspension of AAR’s services at the hospital starting Monday, August 11, 2025,” AAR said in a statement to customers.

The current crisis is one of the hospital’s own-making. In July 2025, the hospital hit patients with a 61.3 percent increase in service charges. This increase impacted services such as CT scan, MRI, X-Rays, bed charges, and ultrasounds.

The largest increments were on pap smear and HPV test, abdomen CT scan and heart MRI. For these services, the cost went up by Sh5,000 each to Sh16,500, Sh30,000, and Sh45,000 respectively.

At the same time, an MRI for the chest went up by Sh4,000 to Sh27,000 while ICU services went up by Sh3,250 to Sh42,250 per day spent at the ICU.

“The overall price adjustment implemented on some few service lines was an average of less than 5 percent, in contrast to an average cost increase of more than 11 percent,” The Nairobi Hospital chief executive officer Felix Osano said.

Whereas some services only recorded marginal increases, others increased by up to 61 percent. For example, haemoglobin test jumped by 61.3 percent from Sh930 to Sh1,500. The cost of blood culture and ultrasound for prostate and pelvic went up by Sh500 from Sh7,000. Charges for X-ray of the abdomen and extremities went up by Sh1,000 to Sh4,000 while Spine X-ray went up by Sh500 to Sh4,000.

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Following the announcements by the insurers that they would be suspending coverage at the hospital, the Nairobi Hospital on Saturday announced that it was opening fresh negotiations to remedy the situation.

“The Nairobi Hospital wishes to inform its patients, partners, and the general public that it is currently engaging insurance companies in constructive discussions following concerns over recent tariff adjustments,” the hospital said in a statement.

However, the chief executive maintained that the adjusted charges were necessary for the hospital. “We recognise the concerns raised by our insurance partners, but reiterate that the adjustments are essential to maintain the high standards of healthcare our patients deserve,” said Osano.