The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has issued identification cards to members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in a steady but sure step towards restoring stakeholders’ confidence.
With the cards, beneficiaries can now access health care without making payments at the point of accessing service.
The Identity cards were issued to members of the association who have been enrolled to access health care under the Scheme.
In a brief ceremony at its Corporate Headquarters in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of NHIS, Prof Mohammed Sambo stated that with the issuance of Identity cards, Nigerians will firm up the confidence that the Scheme was committed to efficient service delivery, noting that the document was a kind of evidence of contract that will strengthen the faith of lawyers and indeed other beneficiaries in the system.
Sambo noted that the Scheme had not issued Identity cards for years due to systemic challenges, adding that the cards presented to members of the association have the unique feature of encryption of vital data amongst others and that it was an offshoot of the automation of its operation.
Speaking at the occasion, the president of the NBA, Olumide Apata stated that health insurance was critical for development in any society, adding that the association was considering the prospect of facilitating the enrollment of its over 100,000 of its members nationwide.
Apata who led a delegation of senior members of the bar and beneficiaries to the occasion, expressed the optimism that health insurance would ensure that lawyers discharge their routine professional duties in good health, noting that this was in addition to the association’s procuring life insurance for its members.
The Nigerian Bar Association had last year enrolled one thousand of its members for health insurance with a pledge to scale up the number.