Nigeria’s health insurance enrolment rises to 23 million — NHIA

Nigeria’s health insurance enrolment increased to 23.06 million people in the second quarter of 2026, up from 16.2 million in late 2023, the Director-General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Kelechi Ohiri, has said.

Mr Ohiri disclosed this on Thursday while delivering the keynote address at the 11th Future of Health Conference organised by Nigeria Health Watch in Abuja.

He said enrolment across federal, state and private health insurance schemes grew by 42.35 per cent over the period.

However, Mr Ohiri said increasing enrolment alone would not guarantee access to healthcare or protect Nigerians from financial hardship.

“We constantly face the reality of a difference between an insurance coverage record and genuine financial risk protection,” he said.

“An insurance card in a citizen’s pocket is meaningless if it does not grant immediate access to a functional facility, guarantee essential medicines, protect against catastrophic out-of-pocket expenses, and deliver dignity during medical emergencies.”

Improving access and accountability

Mr Ohiri said the NHIA had introduced measures to help enrollees understand their benefits, access support and hold healthcare providers accountable.

These include the MyNHIA mobile application and an online self-enrolment portal. He said the authority also distributed enrollee charters and benefit package details through interactive QR codes at accredited health facilities nationwide.

According to him, the codes enable enrollees to check the consultations, diagnostic services and medicines covered by their insurance packages.

Mr Ohiri said the NHIA also strengthened its complaints management system to address grievances involving enrollees, healthcare facilities and health maintenance organisations (HMOs).

Mr Ohiri said the NHIA received and tracked 2,209 complaints through social media, telephone calls, walk-in desks, call centres and letters.

He said 82 per cent of the complaints were resolved within 48 hours, adding that the authority secured direct refunds for enrollees who had been improperly charged by healthcare facilities.

The NHIA also issued formal warnings to facilities and delisted providers for persistent non-compliance, he said.

“That is how regulation converts coverage into genuine financial protection,” Mr Ohiri said.

Targeting vulnerable populations

The NHIA boss said the authority was expanding insurance access for vulnerable Nigerians through targeted programmes supported by public subsidies, grants and public-private partnerships.

He said under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) Gateway, enrolment increased from 2.6 million people in the second quarter of 2026 to 3.2 million in the third quarter, representing a 20.5 per cent increase.

He added that all the enrollees under the gateway had been biometrically verified using their National Identification Numbers (NINs).

Mr Ohiri also highlighted a programme established in partnership with the Global Fund to provide health insurance coverage for key population groups living with or affected by major infectious diseases in Gombe, Anambra, Ebonyi and Kwara states.

He said enrolment under the programme increased from 25,815 beneficiaries in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 58,447 in the third quarter of 2026.

He said women accounted for 68 per cent of the enrollees, while all beneficiaries had been biometrically verified using their NINs.

Future of Health is Now

The conference, themed “From Innovation to Impact: The Future of Health is Now”, brought together stakeholders to discuss how innovations, investments, research and policies can translate into measurable improvements in healthcare delivery.

Mr Ohiri said health innovations must solve practical problems, generate evidence, remain financially sustainable and become integrated into existing systems to achieve impact at scale.

He said the NHIA’s reforms were intended to build a health financing system that protects Nigerians from financial hardship while improving access to healthcare.

“The future of health is not a distant vision,” he said.

“Through strategic purchasing, rigorous evidence, and commitment to equity, the future of health is happening right now.”

READ ALSO: Experts call for wider adoption of proven health innovations in Nigeria

In her remarks, the Managing Director of Nigeria Health Watch, Vivianne Ihekweazu, said Nigeria must look beyond the development of health innovations to the financing, policies, procurement processes and data systems needed to sustain them and expand their reach.

Mrs Ihekweazu said the 11th edition of the conference provided an opportunity to reflect on lessons from more than a decade of discussions on universal health coverage, healthcare financing, technology and the role of the private sector in strengthening Nigeria’s health system.

She said innovations would only deliver meaningful health outcomes if policymakers prioritised scale and sustainability from the outset.

Citing a review of digital innovations in maternal and newborn health in Nigeria, she said none of the 10 interventions examined had achieved sustained scale, largely because they lacked clear ownership within the health system and a pathway into routine service delivery.