Over 19m Nigerians enrolled in health insurance — NHIA

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) on Wednesday said about 19.2 million people are enrolled for health insurance in the country.

The Director General of the NHIA, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, disclosed this during an interactive session with the media in Abuja.

He said the number was a 14% increase in coverage from the previous total of 16.7 million enrollees in less than one year.

He said the health insurance coverage in the country remained stagnant  at 7%  before the NHIA act was passed in 2022.

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He said some of the agency’s reforms in the last one year include: the launch of the free obstetric fistula programme , review of tariffs and the basic minimum benefit package, and decentralisation.

He said 22 hospitals are dealing with the fistula program and that so far over 1, 000 women have been treated.

He said NHIA increased capitation by 60% and the fee for service by 40% ,and also instituted actuarial studies based on industry best practices following deliberation with all stakeholders.

He also  said the agency explored integrating  treatment for HIV, tuberculosis and nutrition, “because of the high rates of malnutrition and the prevalence of diseases and costing it with actuaries, so that we have a benefit package that is robust and can meet the needs of all Nigerians and reduce the fragmentation, in line with the coordinating  minister of health and social welfare’s approach of integration through a sector wide approach.”

The NHIA DG said that the agency’s target for 2025 is to meet and surpass the target of 20 million health insurance coverage, expand the obstetric fistula programme, and enroll retirees, among others.

He said, “ NHIA will focus on the vulnerable groups substantially next year to make sure that our equity mandate is realized. Thirdly, we will make sure that what people go to receive is good quality care.And everything we need to ensure the right tariffs, the quality assurance, assessment, listening to complaints and resolving it will be done to culminate in quality of care. And finally, we will make sure that the sector and the industry comes together to make healthcare affordable and accessible  in a more efficient and sustainable way.”

The Director Enforcement of the NHIA, Dr Adebayo Abdulhamid,  said that the enforcement department received a total of 2,591 complaints  out of which 1,678 were complaints made against healthcare facilities.

He said  913 complaints were made against Health Maintenance Organizations ( HMOs), adding that   85% of all the complaints  were resolved within established timeline.