NHIS: FG probes ‘poor services’ by healthcare providers

The Public Complaints Commission (PCC) says it has commenced investigations into the complaints by enrollees under the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) due to an ‘avalanche of complaints’ against healthcare providers.  Chief Commissioner of PCC, Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf, who spoke at a town hall meeting on systemic and proactive investigation into complaints of poor services to […]

The Public Complaints Commission (PCC) says it has commenced investigations into the complaints by enrollees under the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) due to an ‘avalanche of complaints’ against healthcare providers.

 Chief Commissioner of PCC, Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf, who spoke at a town hall meeting on systemic and proactive investigation into complaints of poor services to enrollees, said the government could not keep quiet as many enrollees were not getting value for their enrollment.

 The town hall was attended by stakeholders including the representatives of NHIA, Lagos State Health Management Agency, health insurance practitioners and members of the public who stormed the town hall with several complaints about the NHIA.

 The majority of the stakeholders who are enrollees at the meeting decried the poor services offered by Health Management Organisations (HMOs) and their affiliated hospitals.

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 Deputy Secretary General of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Igbokwe Chukwuma Igbokwe, said the concept of generating code for patients before being attended to in the hospitals should be jettisoned.

 He urged the NHIA not to be afraid in sanctioning defaulting HMOs and hospitals as prescribed in the newly amended NHIA Act.

 Lagos State Coordinator of NHIA, Mrs Rita Chukwu, said the authority expected the enrollees to be treated with dignity and respect without discrimination, advising them to be free to open and report defaulting HMOs and hospitals.

 But defending the HMOs, Mrs Maria Ayo of HCI Healthcare Limited said HMOs would continue to operate with transparency and provide robust benefits packages to the enrollees.