Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria, HMCAN, has warned that contradictions between the National Health Insurance Authority, NHIA, Act and the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, NIIRA, could slow growth in the healthcare and insurance sectors if not addressed.

HMCAN also called for the harmonisation of identification numbers in Nigeria to simplify penetration and registration within the health insurance ecosystem.

Chairman of HMCAN, Dr Abdulkadri Osumah, spoke at the 8th edition of the HCAM AGM & IHFM Annual Conference and Induction Ceremony in Lagos, themed: ‘The Imperative of a Purposeful, United and Proactive Health Insurance Industry.’

Osumah noted that operators in the industry are looking at the vast opportunities presented by Nigeria’s large population, saying it offers potential for expanding health insurance coverage.

He said: “Ultimately, it will also help improve various health indices, such as maternal health, child health, infant mortality and morbidity. But looking at the law, the National Health Insurance Authority, NHIA, Act and then the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, NIIRA, which has just been passed and enacted by the National Assembly, if the contradictions are not addressed, it will slow down the growth that the NIIRA Act is meant to enable.

“Right now, we don’t have any operational guidelines issued by NAICOM to support the Act that has been passed by the National Assembly. So we are just being very proactive.”

On harmonising identification numbers, he said: “It is the way to go. In countries where there is a large penetration of health insurance or any social scheme, it is usually tied to a national identity number. This is done so that you don’t have a proliferation of numbers, as we currently have.

“As industry players and regulators, we can come together so that everyone, with their NIN, can have a policy number, whether for health insurance or any other form of insurance. This will make penetration a lot easier.”

Also speaking, Managing Director of United Healthcare, Dr Kolawole Owoka, urged government to create demand after building healthcare centres, saying such projects fail when there are no proper plans for utilisation.

Owoka said: “If you build a hospital today or a primary health centre, create demand around it by informing people. Sometimes, when a health centre is built, it becomes rotten and dilapidated because nobody bothers to create demand. They should create that demand. Let there also be accountability.”

Meanwhile, immediate past Chairman of HMCAN, Dr Leke Oshunniyi, said that although Nigeria currently has 20 per cent health insurance coverage, it could reach 60 per cent in the next five years if the government implements effective policies.

Oshunniyi added that with half of one per cent of the consolidated revenue fund going into the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, BHCPF, under the Health Act of 2014, some of the country’s healthcare challenges could be mitigated.

He called for continuity from his successor, saying: “Continuity is very important. There are initiatives I met, which I continued, and I hope that the new executive, led by the chairman, will also sustain them. I see a much stronger body. I am still constitutionally a part of the executive, so I am not just going to drop the ball and leave them to it.”