Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Mohammed Sambo, says before his appointment, about N11bn belonging to the NHIS in the Guarantee Trust Bank had been inadvertently transmitted to the Treasury Single Account and another N10bn trapped in Heritage Bank.
Speaking in Kaduna at the weekend at an informal engagement with Health correspondents, Sambo said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had been trying to help the NHIS recover the funds to no avail.
“Another one was also credited to the TSA account by Heritage Bank,” he added.
Sambo said there was a need for health insurance to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure “because there is a link between ill-health and poverty.”
He said: “Poverty limits access to healthcare and ill-health worsens poverty. So, there’s a vicious cycle between ill health and poverty which must be broken through proper health financing for Nigerians to have good health structure.”
Sambo said a review of the NHIS Act would enable the Scheme to enrol more Nigerians, especially in the informal sector.
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