Over 18 million Nigerians enrolled in health insurance – NHIA

The National Health Insurance Authority on Wednesday said the total enrolment rate for health insurance at the national and state levels has gone up significantly by 11 per cent over the past year.

This was disclosed by the Director General of the NHIA, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, in a statement issued in Abuja.

The development comes five months after the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, announced that an additional 750,000 Nigerians had enrolled in the scheme.

The minister stated this at the third edition of the ministerial briefing series initiated by the Ministry of Information in Abuja.

But Ohiri believed the rise in the number of new enrollees is an indication that the ongoing efforts by the NHIA and various state government institutions are yielding results ahead of the new administration’s target of universal coverage by 2030.

The health insurance expert stated that with the 11 per cent increase, the total national enrolment on their register now stands at about 18.7 million people.

He said, “From the low base of an estimated 16 million enrolment into various schemes across the country in Q4 2023, total national enrolment now stands at about 18.7 million. This translates to an increase of about 11 per cent in less than one year, an indication that the ongoing efforts by the NHIA and various state government institutions working in the health insurance space are yielding fruit.

“This enrolment figure has also already surpassed the presidential target for the year by 8 per cent demonstrating its capability of meeting and exceeding the 2027 target.

“The capitation fees are fixed payments to healthcare providers based on the estimated value of services to patients. They constitute a key incentive for achieving improved quality of services and attracting enrollees. Already a temporary rate has been agreed, pending the announcement of a revised rate.”

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