Enugu delists 17 health management companies

•As NHIS sensitises newly accredited providers

About 17 Health Management Organisations (HMOs) under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) have been delisted in Enugu state, Coordinator of the Scheme, Ahunna Ochor, has said.

Ochor said that the affected HMOs could not meet up with the target of ensuring quality health for enrollees.

In a related development, quality service delivery, easy access and affordable healthcare cost were re-emphasized recently at a Health Care Providers forum organised by the Lagos Zonal office of the NHIS for over 200 newly accredited healthcare facilities in Lagos.

She said that some of the delisted HMOs collapsed on their own and owed some healthcare providers several millions of naira.

“About 17 of the HMOs were recently delisted. Some collapsed on their own and we found out that they owe some health care providers quite a lot of money that runs into millions.

“Some of those owed have written to the Executive Secretary of the scheme through the state office and we await the outcome,” she said.

Ochor said that there was every possibility that the debts would be paid and appealed to the health care providers to route their challenges through the state office.

She said that the state office had taken major steps to fix some of the challenges and lapses noticed in the implementation of the scheme in the state.

Speaking at the Health Care Providers forum recently in Lagos, Awala Ebijuwa, noted,” the trend in global best practice is a healthcare financing approach that seeks to eradicate all forms of out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare. More often than not, a greater percentage of the population does not have a pocket to pay from.

Therefore, health insurance approach has become a veritable mechanism to achieving quality healthcare delivery where easy access and affordability is guaranteed with no financial status discriminations.”

Ebijuwa noted: “With health insurance, universal health coverage (UHC) as a mandate is achievable. Furthermore, she highlighted the various programs designed by NHIS to ensure that all Nigerians in all strata of society have health insurance cover.”

Ebijuwa noted that Lagos State has passed the State law setting up the Lagos State Health Agency and are ready to flag off operations as soon as possible. She enjoined accredited Healthcare Providers in Lagos to brazen up to the challenges of increased health care need.

Ebijuwa reiterated that the increased drive in the NHIS, coupled with the newly introduced Programs such as Public Primary Pupils Social Health Insurance and State Supported Programmes, the enrollee base of the Scheme was certainly going to exceed the Presidential Mandate, which will as well mean more enrollees and increased income for the providers.

Ebijuwa called on the providers to avoid sharp practices and uphold the ethics of the profession making sure that the enrollees were treated as king, as the enrollees will definitely become the mouthpiece for the healthcare facilities on quality care.

Other presentations such as, NHIS Benefits Package, Referral Processes, Offences/Penalties as well as Provider Payment Mechanism were also delivered at the forum.

Responding on behalf of the Participants, the National Chairman of the Healthcare Providers Association of Nigeria (HCPAN), Dr. Umar Sander, applauded the new drive in the Scheme that has made it leap frog the number of enrollees in the last one year. He called on the NHIS to make the forum a more frequent activity so as to enable a robust participation from all the providers.