How the flat 2.75% SHIF compares with your old NHIF band.
Monthly difference (SHIF vs NHIF)
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New SHIF (monthly)
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Old NHIF (monthly)
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Annual difference
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From a capped table to an uncapped percentage
For decades the National Hospital Insurance Fund, NHIF, deducted health contributions using a banded table. You looked up your salary, found your band, and paid a fixed amount, with the top band landing near KES 1,700 a month no matter how much you earned. From late 2024 the Social Health Insurance Fund, SHIF, replaced it, and the logic flipped entirely. SHIF is a flat percentage of gross pay with no ceiling. This calculator applies 2.75 percent of gross, subject only to a KES 300 monthly floor. The structural change is the whole story: a capped fixed charge became an uncapped proportional one, which reshapes who pays more and who pays about the same.
The crossover salary that decides your answer
Because the old NHIF maximum was roughly KES 1,700 and SHIF charges 2.75 percent of gross, there is a clean tipping point. Divide KES 1,700 by 0.0275 and you get about KES 61,800. Below roughly KES 62,000 a month, SHIF can actually cost the same or even slightly less than your old NHIF band. Above it, SHIF pulls ahead and keeps climbing, because nothing caps it. That single threshold answers the question for most people faster than any table. A teacher on KES 45,000 may notice little change. A manager on KES 200,000 pays dramatically more, since 2.75 percent of KES 200,000 is KES 5,500 against the old KES 1,700.
A worked comparison at KES 100,000 a month
Take a gross salary of KES 100,000 and an old NHIF deduction of KES 1,700, the top band. Under the rate this calculator applies, SHIF is 2.75 percent of KES 100,000, which is KES 2,750. That is KES 1,050 more every month than the old NHIF figure. Annualised, the gap is KES 12,600 a year of extra health contribution for the same earner. The table lays it out.
| Item | Amount (KES) |
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A softer blow than the raw gap suggests
The headline difference overstates the real pain for two reasons. First, SHIF contributions qualify for insurance relief, a tax credit of 15 percent on qualifying premiums, so part of the extra you pay comes back as lower PAYE. Second, SHIF is an allowable deduction from taxable pay, which trims your income tax base a little further. Neither fully offsets the rise for high earners, but both mean the net cost is smaller than the gross 2.75 percent looks. This tool compares the gross deductions only, so pair it with an insurance-relief check to see the after-tax effect on your own payslip.
Who this comparison is for
It suits any salaried Kenyan trying to make sense of a payslip that changed when SHIF arrived, and employers explaining the shift to staff. The most common confusion is assuming everyone pays more under SHIF. Lower earners often do not, which is why the crossover figure matters. Enter your actual old NHIF band rather than guessing the top one, because if you were on a middle band your real increase is larger than a comparison against KES 1,700 suggests. SHIF replaced NHIF very recently and the rate and floor have been contested, so confirm the current 2.75 percent rate and the KES 300 minimum with the KRA and the Social Health Authority before relying on the figure.
Does SHIF have a maximum like NHIF did?
No, and that is the core change. NHIF capped out near KES 1,700 a month on its top band, so a high earner and a middle earner paid the same. SHIF applies 2.75 percent right up the income scale with no upper limit, only a KES 300 floor at the bottom. That is why the gap between the two systems widens the more you earn, and why senior staff feel the change most.
Do I still need a separate private medical cover under SHIF?
SHIF is the mandatory public scheme and sets the baseline of cover, but many Kenyans still hold private or employer medical insurance for wider hospital networks and faster access. SHIF does not replace that choice. If you carry private cover, remember its premiums may also count toward the 15 percent insurance relief alongside SHIF, within the monthly cap, so check what you can claim when you file.