FG Reviews N235bn Health Fund As Out-Of-Pocket Costs Remain High

The federal government is intensifying efforts to assess the impact of its health financing interventions as high out-of-pocket expenditure continues to leave Nigerian households burdened by medical costs.

The National Health Insurance Authority disclosed this in a statement on Sunday ahead of the inaugural Nigeria Health Financing Research & Learning Forum, scheduled to begin on Monday, September 28.

The Authority said the government had released N235billion through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund over the past three years, making it increasingly important to determine whether such investments were producing measurable improvements in healthcare delivery.

“The federal government has also released N235billion through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund in the past three years, increasing the importance of ensuring that growing health investments deliver measurable results.”

The NHIA noted that although health insurance coverage had expanded to more than 23 million enrollees, many Nigerians continued to bear significant medical expenses from their pockets.

“Health insurance enrolment has risen to over 23 million, but out-of-pocket expenditure is still quite high, leaving many families exposed to heavy medical bills,” the Authority stated.

Against this backdrop, the two-day forum will provide a platform for policymakers, researchers, healthcare professionals and health financing experts from Nigeria and other countries to examine how available resources can be used more efficiently to improve healthcare outcomes.

According to the NHIA, the forum is part of broader federal government efforts to ensure that spending on healthcare translates into improved services, wider access to effective treatment and better outcomes for patients.

Discussions at the meeting will center on the use of evidence to determine which treatments and healthcare services should receive funding, how providers should be paid and where limited resources can deliver the greatest impact.

The forum comes as the federal government implements a wider health sector reform programme coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare under the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate.

The reforms, the statement said, are aimed at expanding access to healthcare, strengthening financial protection, improving patient outcomes and ensuring better value from health investments.

The forum, themed: “Evidence and Learning for Nigeria’s Health Financing Future: Building a Locally Led Research and Learning Ecosystem,” will also explore ways of translating research findings and health data into practical decisions on healthcare financing.

The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, NHIA, Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation, Nigeria Health Watch and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research are collaborating on the initiative.

The NHIA identified Health Technology Assessment as one of the areas where evidence is increasingly being applied to financing decisions. The approach is used to assess whether medicines, treatments and other health interventions provide sufficient benefits to justify their costs.

The Authority said it had conducted assessments covering kidney replacement therapy, colorectal cancer screening and treatment for advanced liver cancer.

The forum is expected to examine gaps in existing evidence and strengthen the link between research, health financing decisions and measurable improvements in patient care.

Experts expected at the meeting include the NHIA Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Kelechi Ohiri; Canada Research Chair in Health Economics at the University of Manitoba, Prof. John Ataguba; Ghanaian health economist, Prof. Justice Nonvignon; and Prof. Chima Ariel Onoka of the University of Nigeria.

Others are Ethiopian health financing expert, Dr Girmaye Dinsa; Dr Kheya Furtado of India’s Goa Institute of Management; Managing Principal of HSDF and health economist, Dr Yewande Ogundeji; and the NHIA Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Dr Kurfi Abubakar Muhammad.

The NHIA said the forum ultimately seeks to strengthen evidence-based decision-making in health financing as the government works to ensure that increased healthcare spending translates into tangible improvements in service delivery and greater financial protection for Nigerians.