Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf said the scheme will soon deploy desk officers to all accredited hospitals nationwide.

 

Speaking during a courtesy call to Media Trust head office yesterday in Abuja, Usman said the policy will protect enrolees from being exploited by hospitals.

 

“Many of the time hospitals say certain services are not covered while they are covered.  They want the patients to pay out of pocket. I am deploying the desk officers so that when they tell patients certain services are not covered, you can meet the desk officers for clarification and he or she will advocate for you,” he said. 

 

He said the scheme will begin to enrol people directly rather than through the HMOs saying “It is our responsibility not the HMOs.  The trust was given to us and we should be the custodian of that trust. We should not outsource that to the HMOs. By the next quarter, you will see us taking control of that.” Usman added that the nation cannot achieve universal health care if it ignores those in the informal sector which constitute 80% of the population.

 

He also added that if patients are enrolled under NHIS, it will cover cancer and every expensive disease. “Anyone who is enrolled with NHIS and is a cancer patient will not be thrown out of the hospital.”