A guest lecturer at the on-going conference of Oyo State Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA)
Dr. Kayode Obenbe said that National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Nigeria only caters to less than four percent of the country’s population.
Dr. Obenbe said that coverage for 4% of the population was abysmal and tends to make NHIS elitist in outlook.
Dr. Obenbe said that the 4% of the population currently covered by the scheme have 99% of government employees. He therefore, challenged the handlers of the project to roll it out to touch communities on a steady basis. He said if there was commitment and consistency 100% coverage could be achieved for the entire nation in 2015.
Dr. Obenbe advised the government to increase it’s premium contributions so that life threatening conditions can be also treated.
He said that non-formal sector of the economy can benefit through the voluntary contributions options, emphasizing that, when this is done, Nigeria could for once draw respectable comparison with other countries of the world.