‘Current Health Insurance Coverage Not Big To Cover Formal Sector’

The current insurance coverage in Nigeria has been described as not sufficient to cover the formal sector.
A body known as Health Watch Nigeria in its quarterly report indicated that significant non-compliance, especially within the private formal sector is being witnessed.
It proferred that, “ enforce the provision of health insurance, the government could link employee health insurance benefits to public procurement by the private sector.
Additionally, the authorities could explore multi-sectoral partnership by establishing a joint enforcement committee with the Pension Commission (PENCOM), which also seeks to enforce the Pension Act. This joint enforcement would reduce the cost of enforcement and ensure the NHIA can leverage PENCOM’s experience in enforcing social protection.
Among other things it recommended the  enforcement of the Minimum Package of Health Services insisting that ,” all health insurance schemes aim to achieve financial protection, and designating what should be covered to guarantee this financial protection is a fundamental duty of the regulator as prescribed by the Act.
It, however, frowned that different social health insurers sell varying products that differ in coverage and cost from the basic minimum package of healthcare services prescribed by the NHIA through the BHCPF guideline.