Health Insurance, Cheapest Way To Finance Healthcare, Achieve UHC – Leadway
Mr Tunde Hassan-Odukale, MD/CEO
The Head of Medical Services, Leadway Health, Dr Temitope Falaiye, has said that the cheapest way to finance healthcare in Nigeria and achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is through the National Health Insurance Scheme.
Dr Falaye said this while speaking on the topic “Universal Health Coverage: Challenges and Recommendations” during the Virtual Journalism training organized recently by Leadway Assurance Limited for members of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO).
Dr Falaiye who expressed optimism on the workability of health insurance in Nigeria said, “With proper regulation and adequate measures in place, health insurance can work in Nigeria. It is the cheapest way to finance healthcare. It is the easiest way to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). It helps to improve our health outcomes in Nigeria.”
He called on regulators of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Nigeria to do more in terms of ensuring proper and efficient regulation of the scheme.
He said what Leadway Health is doing to ensure Nigerians embrace Health Insurance Scheme for the success of the universal health coverage is to change the perspective of enrollees on health insurance in Nigeria.
Dr Falaiye said to achieve their objectives, Leadway Health has introduced new innovations including Roaming across Hospitals, Leadway Health Service Apps, Advanced Telemedicine facilities, Employees Assistance Programme, Pharmacy Benefit Programme, Preventive Healthcare, Free Travel Insurance and General Wellness Programme amongst others.
Explaining what universal health Coverage is all about, he said “UCH is a means of ensuring that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative healthcare they need, and of sufficient quality.”
Achieving UHC is one of the targets the nations of the world set when adopting the SDGs in 2015. Countries reaffirmed this commitment at the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on UHC in 2019. Countries that progress towards UHC will make progress towards the other health-related targets, and towards the other goals. Good health allows children to learn and adults to earn, helps people escape from poverty, and provides the basis for long-term economic development.
He said in Nigeria only four per cent of the budget is allocated to health instead of 18 per cent agreed in Abuja in 2001, adding that in Africa, Nigeria has the highest out of pocket expenditures of about 77.33 per cent yearly.
On implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Nigeria, Dr Falaiye said only 19 out of the 36 states in the country have keyed into the scheme.
“There is no one-size-fit-all approach to achieving UHC, strategies will deepen on local circumstances. Improving UHC requires addressing building blocks of health systems with a proper roadmap from policy, implementation, and monitoring, “ Dr Falaiye stated.
Head, Medical Services, Leadway Health,mentioned underfunding, skewed funding allocation in favour of Secondary and Tertiary care as against Primary Healthcare, and poor public financial management as challenges militating against the achievement of universal health coverage in Nigeria.
In order to achieve full UHC in Nigeria, the medical expert recommended diversification of sources of funding, increased funding for primary healthcare services through public-private partnership, through state funded private health insurance in collaboration with private Health Management Organisation’s (HMOs), better funding/incentives for health providers in the rural communities and fraud prevention and systems to check corruption.
