NHIS subsidizes healthcare to achieve 40% universal coverage by 2015

*To sanction public facilities over lack of alternative arrangements for enrollees’ access to care during strike

DETERMINED to achieve 40 per cent health insurance coverage for Nigerians by the end of 2015, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) plans to subsidize its Community-Based Social Health Insurance Programme (CBSHIS). 

      Also, in order to ensure that enrollees of the NHIS continue to receive proper and efficient medical care, even at periods of strikes or industrial actions by the medical unions in the country, the Lagos Zonal Office of NHIS has called on all the federal and state public health facilities under her accreditation to ensure that the operational guidelines are strictly adhered to with regard to providing alternative health care facilities for enrollees during strikes actions.

      Executive Secretary NHIS, Dr. Femi Thomas, at the recent flag-off of CBSHIS programme for the people of Gwiwa Sire, in the Wamakko Local Government Area of Sokoto State stressed the commitment of the Scheme to further ease access to effective healthcare for Nigerians, by providing subsidy for CBSHIP, through payment of premium contributions for all registered pregnant women and children under five years of age, for a period of three years.

     Thomas said NHIS has cumulatively expended over N1.2 billion to provide care for pregnant women and children below five years of age, under the NHIS-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Maternal and Child Health (MCH) project since 2008 in six benefitting Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Sokoto state, namely Kebbe, Yabo, Binji, Tangaza, Sabon-Birni and Isa.

     Thomas emphasised that in addition to removing financial barriers in accessing healthcare services for these vulnerable groups, the programme has also facilitated significant improvement in infrastructure and quality of service delivery for the benefitting communities.

       While assuring that the NHIS-Sokoto state partnership would further yield positive results with the flag-off of Gwiwa Sire Mutual Health Association CBSHIS, the NHIS boss commended the State Government for its efforts in promoting the health status of the indigenes, through its pro-active measures at addressing health issues in the state.

      Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Gwiwa Sire Mutual Health Association, Alhaji Abubakar Usman Basakwace, commended the management of NHIS for its effort towards the take-off of the programme, stressing that the overwhelming support of the Scheme at various stages has resulted in the successful launch of the programme in the state.

      Basakwace assured the Scheme of the Association’s high level of commitment to the programme, which he noted is being demonstrated by its members through their warm embrace of the programme, thereby setting a standard worthy of emulation within and outside the state.

    Basakwace called on the state government to provide the Association with a piece of land to build a healthcare facility within the community, in order to bring healthcare services to the door steps of their members.

    Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, who was represented by the Commissioner for Livestock and Animal Health, Alhaji Garba Sanda, implored the community to maximize the opportunity provided by NHIS to better the health status of the people, as this will guarantee their social well being and economic prosperity. 

        According to him, NHIS since inception has contributed positively to the development of the state, by making healthcare services easily available to its people, adding that the NHIS-MDGs/MCH project has been a huge success, while the Tertiary Social Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP) of the Scheme is currently running well in the state.

      He gave the assurance that Sokoto state would partner with NHIS to bring the benefits of health insurance to the people of the state.

     Thomas added: “|Several communities across the country are at various stages of preparedness for the formal take off of the community based social health insurance programme, evidence that the worrisome apathy to health insurance is abating rapidly across the country.”

     Meanwhile, according to the Lagos Zonal Coordinator, Mr. Nasiru Ikharo, in a forum organized by the Scheme for all Public Health Facilities in Lagos “the Operational Guidelines in section 2 subsection 11 cap nine clearly states that one of the conditions for Facilities to participate in the Scheme is the acceptance by the Facility to provide health care to all enrollees even during periods of strikes or Industrial actions or any unforeseen circumstances in which service has been disrupted by making adequate alternative arrangement for provision of service at a nearby accredited facility.”  

      Continuing, Ikharo stated that “a situation where enrollees were turned back at the gate of the hospitals by security personnel on the excuse that they were on strike was not acceptable and in violation of the operational guidelines. 

      Ikharo further pointed out that the Scheme will be having a tremendous increase in the enrollee base of the Scheme within the year with the full take off and registration of pupils in public Primary schools nationwide under the PPPSHIP program that is anticipated to add twenty four million lives. 

      He also said that the National Mobile Health Scheme will be boosted with the entry of more Mobile Network operators MMOs into the programme.

   Continuing, he posited that other ongoing programs such as the Community Health Social Health Insurance Programme (CBSHIP) and Tertiary Institution Social Health Insurance Programme(TISHIP)  and the Organized Private Sector (OPS)  were equally anticipated to swell in enrollee base. 

     According to Ikharo, “this will trickle down to increasing the number of lives under the care of the accredited healthcare Facilities. As a result, adequate care is required to ensure that enrollee satisfaction is achieved.

Ikharo disclosed that the Scheme would ensure strict compliance to the Operational Guidelines through the routine checks by the Standard and Quality Assurance Personnel of the Scheme on all Providers in the State. 

      In a related development, the NHIS was represented at the Public hearing of the bill seeking to establish the Lagos State Health Scheme Agency by the General Manager Legal, the Lagos Zonal coordinator and others at the floor of the State House of Assembly to harmonize the draft bill with the NHIS Act.