The Chief Medical Director, Rock Foundation Hospital, Awka, Dr Chukwudi Njelita, has said the number of out-of-pocket patients
Njelita, a private practitioner, made the call in Awka on Wednesday, saying governments should increase access to healthcare services to Nigerians by making health insurance free.
He said that, though the awareness of health insurance was high, the subscription level among Nigerians was still low due to the inability of most people to pay insurance premiums, especially the rural and low-income families.
He said in spite of the sensitisation, people had not fully embraced the scheme due to poverty.
“The subscription level for health insurance is still low; I can say that while the awareness level is as high as 80 per cent, enrollment is about 20 per cent, judging by what we do here.
“Out-of-pocket patients are still very much more than the insurance patients because insurance patients are known as contained in the list, but out-of-pocket patients are in the record and those who do not even come to the hospital.
“The Federal Government has to step in because many people are unable to pay premiums, which qualify them for the services.
“People who are not civil servants constitute the greater number, and they are not in the scheme, saying it will take about N4 trillion to enrol 140 million people,” he said.
Njelita said the healthcare delivery system was becoming expensive in Nigeria and called for the government’s support to enable the operators to render services at affordable cost.
He said the brain drain in the sector may not end soon unless the remuneration for health workers becomes better and the capital for setting health facilities becomes cheaper.
“Cost of service delivery is increasing by the day, considering the cost of medicines, equipment and wages of health workers, which must be enough to keep them in the hospital.
“Most medicines and diagnostic equipment are imported, so their cost is affected by the foreign exchange values.
“We also have the problem of high cost of energy, either with diesel or the public power sources, and these are some of the reasons running private hospitals has become difficult and many have shut down,” he said.
