The Niger State Government has expressed the determination to launch Contributory Health Scheme (NGSCHS) to provide quality health care services to residents and reduce out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures on health care.
The Commissioner for Health and Hospital Services in the State, Dr Muhammad Makusidi, made this known during a press briefing in preparation for the launching of the healthcare contributory scheme in Minna the State capital.
Makusidi stated further that over 50,000 people enrolled including vulnerable persons, and informal sectors have commenced accessing healthcare services in the state, saying “The essence of launching the scheme is to show the commitment and political will of the government to the scheme, and to create awareness for the scheme and to expand buy-in of all strata of residents into the scheme.”
He explained further that the NGSCHS has been designed to spread financial risk to all members of the pool, in such a way that the risk will be shared between the healthy and the sick, the young and the aged, the poor and the rich.
The scheme, according to him, is mandatory by law and will provide coverage for all Niger state residents regardless of their socio-economic status.
“Since its establishment, the agency has recorded a number of notable achievements, development and deployment of the scheme working documents such as operational guidelines, benefits package, service tariffs, and treatment protocol.
” Over 116 MDAs, tertiary Institutions and major informal sector groups have been reached out for sensitization, as well as advocacy visits to all 25 Local government areas, including the leadership of the Emirate Council in the State,” he declared.
Dr Muhammad Makusidi, however, mentioned that the State Government under his supervision has accredited 311 health providers both from the public and private sectors across the nooks and crannies of the State to offer services to the new scheme under close monitoring.
The Health Commissioner said the agency, in collaboration with an indigenous ICT Consulting firm, has developed a robust ICT platform for reporting and response to all activities through the Enrollee Activity Reporting System (EARS) and Facility encounter reporting device(FERD), mentioned that both devices report directly through a remote server and are visualised on a dashboard daily.
“A Call Center Management System (CCMS) has been established which will operate 24/7 for prompt response to inquiries, referrals, claims management and monitoring. Call Centre contact is 09 904 1210”.
“During the launching, people are expected to purchase multiple premium voucher PINs for their families and constituents at N 7,200.00 each”, Makusidi maintained.
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