Minister of health, Osagie Ehinare, says the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is currently undergoing reforms to revitalise and reposition the scheme to effectively deliver universal and satisfactory health care to all.
Ehinare said issues to be addressed during the reforms include but not limited to delayed payments by Health Management Organisations (HMOs), tales of services that were dissatisfactory as well as discourteous handling by hospital staff and the pressing need for tariff review.
The minister, who said this at a strategic stakeholders forum for healthcare providers (HCPs) last week, said, “These reforms give me confidence that ultimately NHIS will receive not just a facelift, but a total revitalisation.”
He recalled that the NHIS had been of particular concern in recent times, following some protracted crisis with significant impact on its leadership and operations.
He assured that some of the concerns of the providers have also come to the attention of the government, including but certainly not limited to delayed payments by HMOs and the pressing need for tariff review.
“Of particular concern here are the Health Care Providers accredited under the Scheme, who are invariably very critical stakeholders of NHIS. This is particularly so, when you consider that the providers are the ones among the stakeholders with the most frequent and intimate enroll encounter,” he said.
He said the import is that most impressions of the enrolee about NHIS are formed from their experiences at the service point, giving the providers the privilege to influence largely the image of the scheme.
The minister urged stakeholders to take full advantage of the reforms to engage in frank conversations around the issues that have dogged the wheels of the Scheme in the past, so that we can chart a better course as we go into the future.
