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Nigeria: NHIS tries to convince the Private Sector to buy into Health Insurance

Earlier this month, there was a one day interactive and educative session on active participation in the Formal Sector Health Insurance programme (FSSHIP) at Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Ikeja, Lagos State.

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) seized the opportunity to disclose at the event the benefits of health insurance to the Organised Private Sector (OPS). Dr. Femi Thomas, the Executive Secretary of the Scheme only hopes that employers and workers are convinced enough to enjoy the benefits of health insurance.

Nigerian Healthcare

Health insurance in Nigeria is very important, only a healthy work force can realise the goals and aspirations of an organisation. Dr Thomas said to the audience, “We should see how we can actually provide accessible and affordable healthcare, for us to think of wealth, we must look at the wellbeing of the people that are going to generate wealth.

Pooling together could mean more healthcare for more people

In Nigeria, almost 80 per cent of the medical expenses are still paid from personal pockets or individual expense. The NHIS solution would mean having a pool of funds that everybody can access from, because the larger the pool, the cheaper it will be for individuals to access health care. Individuals pay a lot to see a doctor for consultation; the sum is enough to take care of a lot of people if pooled together.

Unfortunately, we cannot over-emphasise the fact that there are some people in Nigeria who are ‘vulnerable’ and cannot afford health care when they need it. According to Dr Thomas the country would need about N1.9 trillion to provide health care for all of Nigeria in one year.

The Nigerian Government has been very magnanimous since 2005, by ensuring it is able to make its own contribution to the pool of funds, so that people can access it when there is the need for them to get health care.

Healthcare insurance is gaining traction

At the event, Dr Thomas was keen to demonstrate that records show that the scheme already has a large number of people. He said that the scheme had about 7.5 million individuals in its database. But, compared to the 170 million population in Nigeria, there is still a long way to go in delivering an affordable healthcare to all.

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