Payment for Health Care and Perception of the National Health Insurance Scheme in a Rural Area in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract. Health insurance coverage of the informal sector is a challenge in Nigeria. This study assessed the methods of payment for health care and awareness about the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) among members of selected households in a rural area in the southwest of Nigeria. Using a multistage sampling technique, a semi-structured, pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 345 households. The majority of the people still pay for health care by out-of-pocket (OOP) method. Awareness about the NHIS in Nigeria was poor, but attitude to it was encouraging; and from the responses obtained, the people implied that they were willing to enroll in the scheme if the opportunity is offered. However, lack of trust in government social policies, religious belief, and poverty were some of the factors that might impede the implementation and expansion of the NHIS in the informal sector. Stakeholders should promote socioculturally appropriate awareness program about the NHIS and its benefits. Factors that might present challenges to the scheme should be adequately addressed by the government and other stakeholders associated with prepayment schemes in Nigeria.

Mobile money use and social health insurance enrolment among rural dwellers outside the formal employment sector: Evidence from Kenya

“…We specified the probit model as follows: where NHIFenrolment i was the probability of individual і being enrolled in NHIF, α was the intercept, β 1 was the slope parameter while β 2 was a vector of slope parameters, MMuse i was the independent variable which took the form of one if individual i was a registered mobile money user and zero otherwise, and X i was a vector of controls which consisted of the following characteristics of individual i , namely, mobile phone ownership, sex, age, age‐squared, education, wealth quintile, bank account use, informal group membership, occupation, and health shocks. These controls were selected according to literature on mobile money and social health insurance . We added a dummy variable for mobile phone ownership in our model so as to disentangle the money payment system (mobile money) from the cell phone .…”

Expanding health insurance scheme in the informal sector in Nigeria: awareness as a potential demand-side tool

“…Data collection: A semi-structured, pre-tested, interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The questionnaire was adapted from a previous study [ 2 ]. The questionnaire contained sections on socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, awareness of the availability of health insurance, how health insurance operates, and the attitude of respondents towards health insurance.…”

“…Globally, prepayment methods of financing healthcare have been embraced as a viable strategy to achieving universal health coverage [ 1 ]. However, it is a relatively new concept in the majority of African countries, including Nigeria [ 2 – 4 ]. State supported social security systems of financing healthcare substantially reduce the burden of healthcare costs on individuals and families.…”

Increasing health insurance enrolment in the informal economic sector

“…One of the major reasons identified is poor public awareness with younger people having lower enrolment rates [1]. Other reasons for poor enrolment of health insurance include: normative ideas regarding governments role in full funding of the citizens' health care, wrong beliefs about health insurance attracting ill-health, poor trust in governance, amongst others [1,3].…”