Experts Urge NHIA to Make Health Insurance Mandatory for Nigerians 

Ebere Nwoji

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has been urged to enforce mandatory health insurance scheme among Nigerians to ensure that preventive care was included in all health insurance benefit packages. 

A healthcare consultant and Managing partner at Insignia Health, Dr. Olumuyiwa Olusanya, made the suggestion at a Webinar session organised by SYNLAB Nigeria.

He faulted the current system for focusing almost entirely on treatment rather than prevention. According to him, delaying care until illness becomes severe significantly increases both costs and health risks.

He said that Nigeria was financing the end of the story and ignoring the beginning, urging policymakers to integrate preventive screenings and diagnostics into standard insurance packages.

Olusanya called on the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to enforce mandatory health insurance and ensure that preventive care was included in all benefit packages. Health insurance financing experts who participated at the session also called on Nigerians to embrace health insurance schemes observing that less than10 percent of Nigerians have one form of Health Insurance or the other.

The experts noted that   despite much crusade about health insurance scheme, most Nigerians   obtain their healthcare services through direct household spending.

Speaking at the event,  which has the theme “Enabling Healthcare Financing for Complete Patient Care,” health financing expert and National Professional Officer, WHO, Nigeria, Dr. Adeniyi Adeniran, described Nigeria’s healthcare financing structure as inadequate across its core functions  in areas such as revenue generation, pooling of funds, and strategic purchasing of services.