The Nigeria Medical Association has warned that the insurance schemes set up by states to secure their shares of the N55bn Health Care Provision Fund are poorly established and lack the capacity to provide sustainable health care services to indigent Nigerians.
Part of the requirements for states to receive the fund from the Federal Government is that the states must have their own health insurance scheme.
But in an interview with our correspondent, NMA President, Francis Faduyile, said stakeholders including doctors were not consulted by the states in fulfilling the requirement.He stressed that the states placed political consideration ahead of the people the scheme was meant for.
Fifteen state governments and the Federal Capital Territory shared N6.5bn through the National Health Insurance Scheme in September. The amount was part of the N55bn earmarked by the FG for health care provision through the National Health Act 2014 which created three gateways for disbursement of the BHCPF.
Faduyile said, “That money is for Basic Health Care Provision for the people. It has been found out that not everybody will be able to enroll or pay for NHIS. What has been envisaged is that for those who may not be able to pay, the states needed some funding to support them so that they can have the adequate treatment as those who have the capacity to use the NHIS.
“One of the basic requirements before the states can access the money is for them to have their own health insurance scheme. The stakeholders and providers of health services, where our members are in large quantity, are not involved (by the states).
“NMA is baffled that many of the states set up the state health insurance scheme based on political interest. We have not seen any effort by that scheme to take care of the people in a sustainable manner.”
Faduyile also called on the concerned states to discuss with stakeholders to correct their mistakes, while also urging those who had not set up theirs to involve relevant stakeholders before doing so.
He added, “The states must fulfill the minimum requirements and the states that set up poor schemes should approach health providers and discuss with them.”