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An evaluation of the national health insurance
scheme (NHIS) in Jos, a north-central Nigerian city
1Onyedibe,
Kenneth Ikenna,
2Goyit, Meshach Gomam,
3Nnadi, Nnaemeka Emmanuel.
1Department
of medical microbiology, Jos university teaching
hospital, Jos, Nigeria.
2Department of management sciences,
faculty of social sciences, university of Jos, Jos,
Nigeria.
3Department of medical microbiology,
faculty of medical sciences, university of Jos, Jos,
Nigeria.
Corresponding Author Email: kenonyedibe@yahoo.com;
phone: +2348035986637
Received 09 February, 2012; Accepted 13 February,
2012
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National health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is a health
care scheme established by the Federal Government of
Nigeria in 2005 for better healthcare delivery to
its populace. The objective of this study was to
determine the proportion of Nigerian adults enrolled
in the scheme, their satisfaction with the quality
and availability of services within the scheme and
the factors responsible for the dismal health
indices in the country despite the scheme.
Questionnaires were administered randomly to 200
adult respondents in Jos metropolis. The findings
show that only 24% of adults were enrolled in the
scheme. Notably, 82% of enrolled respondents were
aware of NHIS and prefer it to the fee for service
system. There was some level of dissatisfaction in
the scheme (26% of enrollees). Sources of
dissatisfaction included poor registration services,
poor referral system, delays in receiving required
services and unavailability or non coverage of some
required services. It was statistically determined
by the Chi Square tool of analysis that there was a
direct relationship between the percentage of
enrollees and the poor health indices of the
populace. We strongly recommend modification of
existing policies to enable enrollment of the self
employed and unemployed as well as improved coverage
and quality of services within the scheme.
Key words:
Evaluation, National Health Insurance Scheme, Jos.
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