The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, warned authorities of the National Health Insurance Scheme against extra-budgetary expenditure in the course of implementation of the proposed health scheme called ‘Giftship’.
The lawmakers issued the warning in Abuja, during the 2020/2021 budget defence and 2022 budget proposal and presentation on the proposed new health scheme held at the instance of the House Committee on Health Institutions, chaired by Hon Tanko Sununu.
While briefing the lawmakers on the new health scheme, Professor Sambo explained that the Giftship has the same package as the existing NHIS being administered across the country.
“The Giftship is a platform that can bring in individuals, families, people from various groups, people from diaspora. It can facilitate philanthropists to come and get premium on behalf of people in their communities.”
While urging National Assembly members to embrace the scheme as part of their respective constituency projects, he argued that the platform, otherwise called “a masterstroke that will bring about the total coverage of the Nigerian population. If you’re a philanthropist, you can pay like N15 million and cover over one thousand people. If you pay N30 million, you can cover 2,000 people.”
The NHIS helmsman further stressed that: “Individuals that are willing to join National Health Insurance Scheme now that we have developed the Giftship programme. So when we receive the total premium, there are formulas in which it is dispensed, 10 per cent of that premium whatever comes to us will be used as part of the administrative cost for running NHIS, these include salaries, as well as other overheads items.
“So what we receive from the National Assembly as a capital is basically in the area of these constituency projects.”
According to Professor Sambo, no fewer than 1,000 people will be enrolled in each of the 360 Federal Constituencies across the federation for a period of one year at the cost of N15 million, adding that N50 million will cover 500 people for a period of two years.
In a swift response to the presentation, the lawmakers who frowned at the template on the utilisation of the 10% of the accrued premium as administrative cost and payment of salaries and other overhead items, noted that NHIS cannot spend the fund without the approval of the National Assembly.
The lawmakers during the engagement also demanded details of various subheads in 2020/2021 Appropriation Acts as well as the N3 million unspent fund out of the N144 million budgetary allocation in the 2020 fiscal year.
While responding to the questions raised by the lawmakers, NHIS Executive Secretary, Professor Mohammed Sambo disclosed that out of the N144 million released for the 2020 budget, over N140 million were utilised.
He added that the N3 million was left in the balance sheet since it could not take care of the project for which the money was provided, adding that the money was released in tranches, hence the decision to roll it over into the 2021 fiscal year.
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