The management and staff of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) have commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing into law the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act.
The NHIS Deputy General Manager, Mr. Emmanuel Ononokpono, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.
“For over two decades, industry professionals had sustained the call for amendment to the health insurance law, being a major impediment to the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC),’’ Ononokpono said.
By this development, efforts to tackle high incidence of poverty caused by out-of-pocket expenses for health care, through health insurance for all categories of Nigerians by 2030, is now more realisable than ever before,’’ he said.
Ononokpono said that the management was also grateful to the Senate and the House of Representatives for their invaluable roles in the lead up to the enactment of the law.
He acknowledged the roles played by different stakeholders in the course of the legislative work on the law.
According to him, the Act establishes and empowers the NHIA to ensure provision of health insurance for all Nigerians through a mandatory mechanism, in collaboration with state health insurance agencies.
He said that sections 25 and 26 of the Act established the Vulnerable Group Fund (VGF), indicating the various sources from which funding would be drawn.
Ononokpono said that the legislation strengthened the NHIA to discharge a wide range of regulatory and promotion functions, to ultimately ensure that every Nigerian received access to quality and affordable health care.
He said that the legislation Buhari assented to did not make provision for a telecoms tax as a source of funding in the law, contrary to reports in some national media.
Ononokpono urged stakeholders and industry players, including the media to wait for a formal unveiling of the document.