Lagos - In line with its mandate to expand health insurance services to all Nigerians, the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, has introduced the Tertiary Institution Social Health Insurance Programme, and the Public Primary School Mobile Health Insurance, both of which are estimated to provide insurance coverage for additional 30 million lives in the country.
Disclosing this in Lagos, Executive Secretary, NHIS, Dr Femi Thomas said the Scheme flagged the very cheap programme for those in the tertiary institutions nationwide, as part of the National advocacy programme on tertiary school social health insurance programme.
"All that anyone in a tertiary institution needs to pay is N2,000 per year and will be covered while in school and during the holidays. The package even covers two live deliveries for the ladies while in school so there will be no case of dropping out of school.
"The National Universities Commission, NUC, has directed all universities in the country to log in and we are working with the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria for us to have that same directive so that all tertiary institutions nationwide will key in to the programme.
"We are expecting three of four million lives from this sector alone, and with this, we believe we should be able to get the 30 percent Mr President has mandated us to attain," Thomas explained.
Further, he said the NHIS has commenced training of officers to enrol about 24 million pupils in public primary schools across the federation.
Source: Vanguard