THE Federal Government has commenced a comprehensive reform of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), to reposition the scheme and for greater effectiveness and impact.
The reform, according to the Minister of Health, Prof Osagie Ehanire, will consider tariffs review and address the problem of delayed payments by the Health Management Organizations (HMOs) to the health providers.
Prof Ehanire made this known on Thursday while speaking at the Strategic Stakeholders Forum for Healthcare Providers, organised by the management of NHIS to engage the healthcare providers who are very important in the implementation of the scheme.
He said the Federal Government and the Ministry of Health have fully identified with the impressive effort to reposition the NHIS “for greater effectiveness and impact, as part of an on-going reform process in the Scheme.”
The minister pointed out that the NHIS reform was part and in line with the resolve and determination of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to rejuvenate all organs and units of government for unfettered performance, especially in the second term of the administration.
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He, therefore, called on other stakeholders, especially the Healthcare Providers and the HMO to key into the reform process, by also engage in serious reform of their own processes.
The minister said: “I am happy to state that I have received from the Executive Secretary, a thoroughly comprehensive briefing on the reforms that are going on in the institution. These reforms give me confidence that ultimately NHIS will receive not just a facelift, but a total revitalisation.
“It is on the strength of this that I wish to seize this opportunity to call on all stakeholders to take full advantage of the reforms to engage in frank conversations around the issues that have dogged the wheels of the Scheme in the past, so that we can chart a better course as we go into the future.
“Of particular concern here are the Health Care Providers accredited under the Scheme, who are invariably very critical stakeholders of NHIS.”
He added that the reforms “we are implementing may not achieve much if enrolees continue to return from hospital visits with tales of services that are dissatisfactory, as well as discourteous handling by hospital staff.
“Therefore I have no doubt that the providers can see why they must key into the reforms at NHIS, by frankly addressing internal reforms among themselves.
He assured that some of the concerns of the providers have also come to their attention, “including but certainly not limited to delayed payments by HMOs and the pressing need for tariff review.
“Happily, these are issues on the card during the reforms. This underlies why you must, therefore, be frank and open in these conversations.”
“We must give credit to the Management of NHIS, for creating this serial platforms of consultations with all the stakeholders, with a view to engendering seamless interactivity, bringing every player in line with operational guidelines and strengthening quality assurance in the processes.” Prof Ehanire said.
In is address, the Executive Secretary of NHIS, Prof Mohammed Sambo, said the scheme has hitherto, been engulfed in crises that seemed bottomless’ but added that it is now profoundly stable.
He said: “I have taken the liberty of this positive development to pull the trigger of reform in the Scheme. Many reform shots have been fired so far, with the result that the picture of a new NHIS is speedily looming large.
“I would like to inform you that a lot has been done to reposition the Scheme on the path of success by engendering enduring reforms, which target a positive result-oriented NHIS.
“Accordingly, a painstaking roadmap has been developed, from which a three-point agenda evolved. I intend to drive the process of the reforms on the tripod of the three points.”
The Executive Secretary gave the tripod as; Engendering Value reorientation through a well-defined value system; Transparency and Accountability in the management of the entire Scheme; and Activation and acceleration of the push-factors for the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Prof Sambo pointed out that the specificities of the three-point agenda are being unfolded in the Scheme and the effects are already bringing it up to its foot in order to walk and work again.
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