Nigeria requires N79b to provide health insurance in 2016

Nigeria will require a N79 billion budgetary allocation to provide health insurance for vulnerable Nigerians in 2016, the acting Executive Secretary of Nigeria Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Mr Femi Akingbade has said.

Akingbade who hinted of plans by his agency to target at least 40 million Nigerians in 2016, however expressed hope that the fund needed could be generated internally rather than looking towards international donor.

“I’m not so much an advocate of international donors and things like that. I believe that all the funds that are needed can actually be generated internally. So if for any reason, there is a subsidy and it is earmarked for Health, it will be a step in the right direction for us.

“From the brief calculation that we have done, even been modest and saying we want to pay the capitation of about N250 per person per month, the total amount that will be needed for 2016 for capitation alone to take care of 45 million Nigerians is N67.5 billion. So if for any reason, government give a score base on that calculated amount, so whatever that can be generated internally, because we are also looking at encouraging domestic funding.”

Buttressing his argument that the N67 billion needed could be raised internally, Akingbade noted that “Last year alone, private sector initiative spend was in excess of N79 billion for health system. But you will find out that a lot of these monies come as vertical programmes.

“They don’t have that high impact, because everybody is running their thing on their own.”

Akingbade also hinted that the current enrollment of the scheme was not encouraging as there are just only 7.9 million people currently on the scheme.

Read also: How to recognize a heart attack before it happens

He however blamed the current nature of health insurance in the country for the poor enrollment figure.

According to him, ” While it is not mandatory, the only class of people that it has been made mandatory for are the public servants at the federal level. And that is one of the things we are still trying to tell the states that it should be made mandatory for states government workers.”

In the coming year, he said the scheme was “looking at a minimum number of about 40 to 45 million people.”

On what the agency is doing concerning people living with HIV, Akingbade said they are only covered in the scheme at the level of screening, education, awareness.

Akingbade said the scheme seeks to create a benefit package to take care of people living with HIV; stressing that NHIS was aware that the fund is dwindling from international support.

RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now