By Philip Yatai
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has reiterated
its commitment to leave no one behind in efforts to provide financial protection to Nigerians against
the cost of ill-health.
The NHIA Coordinator in Kaduna State, Malam Aminu Tanimu, gave the commitment in an interview with
the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Tuesday.
He said that the authority has different health insurance packages for different categories of people in
both the formal and informal sectors toward the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
According to him, there is a package for the formal sector, informal sector, community-based, retirees and
students of tertiary institutions, among other packages for all categories of persons and individuals.
Tanimu said “this is to ensure that no one is left behind in the Federal Government efforts to provide health insurance cover
for all citizens.”
He urged Nigerians to embrace the programme and access quality healthcare services at affordable cost without exposure to financial risk.
He particularly urged Kaduna residents that are not covered by any of NHIA’s packages to subscribe to the Group, Individual and
Family Social Health Insurance Programme (GIFSHIP).
He explained that GIFSHIP was designed for small-scale enterprises, associations, unions and institutions outside the organised
private sector, self-employed individuals, families and groups.
Others, he said, were retiree and retiree associations, diaspora groups, foreigners living in the country, as well as those whose
premium would be covered by philanthropists or members of the National Assembly (NASS).
The coordinator further explained that “under the package, contributions for an individual with two dependents is 45,000
per annum, while a family of four would pay N60,000, with each member of the family enrolled at N15,000.
“Group enrollment is pegged at N15,000 per person per annum, with a minimum number of 10 persons per group,
except small-scale enterprises with less than 10 employees.
“The benefit package is huge and can be accessed in any NHIA facility in any part of the country.”
The state coordinator also said that the authority was doing all it could to improve the quality of services across NHIA accredited
facilities in the country.
He added that Prof. Nasiru Sambo, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the authority, was already strengthening
states with the required manpower – doctors, pharmacists, lab scientists, and nurses, among others.
He said that NHIA officials would be going round facilities to assess the level of service delivery, adding that any facility found
wanting would be sanctioned according to the NHIA guidelines.
Tanimu appealed to enrollees who were not satisfied with the quality of services or felt shortchanged to report to their Health
Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) or the nearest NHIA office, assuring that necessary action shall be taken.
“An enrollee who has complaints at a healthcare facility on issues relating to service delivery should first contact his or her HMO.
“If the complaint is not resolved or the case is an emergency, the enrollee should register the complaint with the nearest NHIA
office,” he advised. (NAN)
