THE House of Representatives
on Thursday vowed to look into the books of both the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the benefiting Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) over allegations and counter allegations by both parties on the workability and sustenance of the scheme.
The House had mandated the committee to investigate allegation that the HMOs collected about N351 billion from the health insurance scheme without covering the critical stakeholders.
Consequently, the House committee chaired by Honourable Chike Okafor, resolved to set up a committee that would reconcile the accounts of NHIS and the benefitting HMOs, saying that the outcome of the reconciliatory committee would form the basis for the committee’s resolution.
According to him, “the team will come to your office to look at your books”.
The chairman however observed that average Nigerians were not benefiting from the health insurance scheme, saying that as the representatives of the people the House would not fold its arms and allow the scheme to die.
The House committee chairman however warned the Executive Secretary NHIS, Professor Yusuf Usman on the need not to rock the boat, saying, “if we go with you the way your passion is dragging you then we would bring down Nigeria.”
The NHIS boss who also addressed the committee said that, from year 2000-2016 NHIS had paid N60 billion administrative bill to the HMOs, saying that with such amount of money 2.6 million Nigerians would have benefitted from NHIS.
Speaking further he said that, he would carry out reaccreditation of the HMOs and ensure that they pay the debt they are owing, stressing that the HMOs were owing hospitals N2 billion.
In his submission, the spokesperson of the the Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria, HMCAN, Lekan Ewenla again debunked all the claims by the NHIS boss with documents and pleaded with the committee to demand for amount he claimed to have paid the HMOs.
Ewenla stated that rather than carrying them along with a view to making NHIS a success for the benefit of all Nigerians, the NHIS boss since his arrival has been operating a one man show contrary to the Act that set up the NHIS.