Dr Olufemi Akingbade, CEO of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) while presenting a paper on the overview of the role and responsibility of NHIS, recently said that only a healthy work force could realize the goals and aspirations of all organisations.

He said: “As we speak, it is high time that these schemes were expanded. If you still look at the statistics in Nigeria, almost 80 percent of the medical expenses are still paid out of pockets. This is a high cost compared to what we can gain if we have a pool of funds that everybody can access from, because the larger the pool the cheaper it will be for us to access health care. You do not need to start looking for money out of pocket, if the pool of fund is there, you will access care.”

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NHIS in its current form has programs for the different population groups. Those in employment have a program, those in self employment have a program, rural community people have a program, students have a program, pupils in primary schools have program. There is a National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) established to receive contributions for any of the programs.

Those in employment contribute 5.25% of gross pay, the employees pay 1.75% while employers pay 3.5% of the this, totaling 5.25%. Those self employed pay N15,000 per member household per year. Those in rural communities pay a flat rate depending on an the location of the rural community. Lagos residents for instance pay N400 per month per person, while Auchi residents pay N150 per month per person.

Students pay their medical fees into the pool which is currently N2,000 per student per year.
Every month, a certain premium is paid to the hospital of your choice as capitation whether you go there for service or not. When you are sick you simply go in and get treated without receiving any bill. Those in diaspora can also pay on behalf of family members. The NHIS has about 10, 000 healthcare facilities in the network and it is not enough.

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Nigeria would need about N1.9 trillion to provide health care for all Nigeria in one year. He said that a lot of people pay a lot to see a doctor on consultation, the sum enough to take care of a lot of people if pooled together.

The NHIS currently has about 7.5 million enrolled in its database as at today, mainly constituted of federal workers, and spouses, children. This number is quite negligible compared to the total population of 170 million Nigerians.

The NHIS is currently setting up several new programs and strategies that would involve and capture everybody irrespective of status in the society.

Get a health Insurance today. It is less expensive than paying hospital bills directly, and the scheme has set out to engage HMOs, in a massive drive to ensure that only hospitals with the best standards and quality of care are enlisted in the scheme.

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