Stakeholders meet to chart way forward for health insurance

Doris Obinna

In a bid to ensure the well-being of Nigerians, stakeholders in the health sector have come together to enhance the workability of health insurance in the  country. 

Towards this end, the Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria (HMCAN), the umbrella body of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Accredited Health Maintenance Oganisation (HMO) in Nigeria, in collaboration with Health Care Providers Association of Nigeria (HCPAN) and the umbrella body of NHIS-Accredited Healthcare Providers in Nigeria, are jointly reviewing the challenges affecting the operations and growth of health insurance in the country.

While calling on all stakeholders to key into the health insurance, the President, HCPAN, Dr. Jimmy Arigbabuwo, said health sectors should not have competitors, as “without stakeholders keying into scheme, the health insurance will suffer.”

He said it was important the nations ensured there are more enrollees “as government’s initiative of using state’s social support for health insurance funds meant to take care of the vulnerable in the country.”

He said: “The resolutions of the review, however, is that the two critical stakeholders must work together to build processes and systems in corporate governance that follow laid down rules as well as globally primary healthcare.

According to him, “the programmes for the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in the country should be sanitised and the operations of health insurance standardised.”

He said the critical stakeholders had agreed to “come up with beneficial packages and premiums for the adoption of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA),” adding: “The two critical stakeholders have unanimously resolved to strategically expand health insurance coverage with strong political will from the government at the three levels.”