NHIA: Over 22M Nigerians Now Under Mandatory Health Insurance Coverage
Ebere Nwoji
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), said Nigeria has made significant progress in its efforts to achieve Universal Health Insurance Coverage (UHC), revealing that health insurance enrolment has risen to over 22 million.
The development, NHIA said, showed improved acceleration in the implementation of mandatory health insurance across the country.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE) in Lagos, the Director-General of NHIA, Dr. Kelechi Ohiri, said the Authority had moved beyond policy formulation to delivering measurable improvements in healthcare access, service quality and consumer protection, in line with the Federal Government’s health sector reform agenda.
Describing implementation as the defining challenge of the current phase of reforms, Ohiri said: “Nigeria has the policy. Nigeria has the legislation. The decisive variable is now implementation — consistent, rigorous and accountable execution that converts political commitment into healthcare access for real Nigerians.”
He added that the progress recorded so far demonstrated that sustained collaboration among the Federal Government, states, healthcare providers, Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs), employers and development partners was beginning to translate reform into tangible results for citizens.
According to him, the number of Nigerians covered by health insurance has climbed to 22.03 million, representing a 35 per cent year-on-year increase, driven by stronger partnerships with State Social Health Insurance Agencies (SSHIAs), wider engagement with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), organised labour, employers and the private sector, as well as the gradual implementation of the mandatory health insurance provisions of the NHIA Act.
He explained that the transformation of the former National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) into the NHIA represented a fundamental institutional reform that has strengthened regulation, consumer protection, accountability and strategic purchasing.