The National Health Insurance Agency (NHIA) has partnered with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) towards operationalising the health insurance act in the country.
Prof. Mohammed Sambo, Director General of NHIA, stated this yesterday in Abuja, when the president of NBA, Yakubu Maikyau, led a delegation on a visit to him at the NHIA headquarters.
He said NHIA has included NBA in three committees to drive implementation of the act. They are operational guidelines, mandatory social health insurance (to look at how the mandatory law will be applied) and innovative financing committees.
While saying that NBA will also be engaged in its forthcoming national health insurance summit, he said the inclusion of the association in the committees is because of the eminent roles it has played so far and would continue to play.
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“We have gone to Rwanda, and we have seen how the government is taking any opportunity for innovative financing,” he said.
He commended Maikyau, and his immediate predecessor, Olumide Akpata, for their visionary leadership in partnering with NHIA.
The NBA president, Yakubu Maikyau, said the association was aligning with the objectives of NHIA, particularly on the economic benefits of healthcare access for all Nigerians.
He said NBA was holding a programme to encourage lawyers to enroll in the health insurance scheme, adding that “1000 names have been compiled to take advantage of the free health insurance cover.”
He said, “Premium will be paid for this 1000. An additional 1,000 members are being planned to cover in the second year of our administration.
“NHIS can call on NBA whenever the need arises to discharge its duty. We will interrogate where necessary and have a purposeful interpretation of the law.
“We will be available for training that will be conducted in NHIS so as to understand the workings of NHIA.”
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