Press Release On the National health Insurance Scheme Guild of Medical Directors.
The National Executive of the Guild of Medical Directors held an emergency meeting in Abuja at which issues affecting the National health Insurance Scheme were extensively discussed. It will be recalled that the Nigerian government, through the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, suspended the Chief Executive Officer of the Scheme (NHIS), Prof Usman Yusuf, who was ordered to proceed on three months suspension with immediate effect. The suspension was “a result of various allegations and petitions against him”.
The Minister also directed the setting up of an investigative committee to look into the various allegations in accordance with the Public Service Rules.
The following are some resolutions reached at the meeting:
1. The GMD is not happy with the current situation which tends to affect the smooth running of the scheme and thus leads to negative consequences for enrollees of the scheme. It should be noted that the primary focus of the scheme is to service the health needs of the enrollees and to improve the health indices of the country. In spite of the challenges engendered by this face off, hospitals affiliated with the Guild continue to render uninterrupted service to the enrollees, even where payments have been unduly withheld. We therefore call on government to decisively and speedily intervene to rectify all anomalies hindering the smooth functioning of the NHIS.
2. The GMD is worried about the abysmally low coverage of the scheme in our country. It will be noted that other African countries such as Ghana and Kenya have embraced a similar scheme and have enrolled up to 69% of their populations while here in Nigeria, we have enrolled less than two percent of our population. We therefore strongly advocate for the introduction of mandatory enrolment by all eligible families in the country.
3. It should be noted that the GMD has no objection to the current structure of the scheme involving the NHIS, the Health Management Organisations (HMOs), the service providers (Hospitals) and the enrollees. This is to ensure the statutory role of each stakeholder. However there is a need to fine-tune the relationship between these organizations in such a way that high quality service is delivered to the enrollees.
4. Primary health care should be left to the Primary health care centers and private hospitals, and taken away from the secondary (General hospitals) and tertiary care providers (teaching hospitals, specialist hospitals and Federal medical Centers) who are at the moment overwhelmed with cases that can easily be taken care of at the primary care levels and are unable to concentrate on their core assignments and to handle cases on referrals that are beyond the scope of Primary health care centers.
These lives need to be re-distributed. A patient should not need to travel more than 5 KM from his home in order to access Primary care. The enrollees need to be rightly guided as to their choice of primary care center which should include all accredited health care institutions (public and private) within their catchment areas.
5. There is a need to accredit more private institutions in anticipation of the increased load of enrollees. At the moment, GMD hospitals account for about 60% of all health care in the country, and it is unfortunate that the GMD is not even in the National or State health Council. This should be looked into by the appropriate authorities.
6. Ultimately we are urging the implementation of the National Health Act and its domestication at the State level.
In conclusion, the Guild of Medical Directors once more urges a speedy resolution of the face off between the MOH and the NHIS and we stand ready to play our part in the delivery of quality health care for all Nigerians.
Prof. Femi Dokun-Babalola
President, Guild of Medical Directors
14th August 2017