Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon, a journalist with Legit.ng, has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has been driving the adoption of health insurance in Nigeria, and so far, now has 20 million Nigerians enrolled in the scheme.

The Director-General of NHIA, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, gave this update while speaking at a forum in Lagos.

Ohiri, who was represented by Acting Director, Lagos Regional office of the agency, Mrs. Aisha Abubakar Haruna, stated that this was a vast improvement from the 16.8 million reported in 2023.

Ohiri added that the NHIA has reached 99% of the 2027 target set by the presidency, with over 800,000 beneficiaries registered in May 2025.

This brings the total registered in Nigeria up to 20.6 million, the Nation reports.

His words:

“As of June, last month, NHIA has achieved 20 million enrollees in health insurance. This was the combined efforts by the state health insurance agencies, health maintenance organisations and the National Health Insurance Scheme.’’

The DG also revealed that the authority has expanded its health insurance scheme to now include extreme health cases like Tuberculosis, and HIV (PLHIV). Pilot phases have been launched in four states.

He added that initiatives have been rolled out to address drug shortages, and improve the speed and quality of healthcare for enrollees, and save more lives.

Ohiri said:

"NHIA has focused on expanding health insurance coverage, improving the quality of care, and protecting the rights of enrollees while deploying health insurance to save lives in a way that contributes to and sustains significant benefits to the health sector."

Since 2024, the authority has introduced and enforced the one-hour limit on healthcare authorization, revised the accreditation processes, reviewed tariffs, and addressed issues like denial or delay in issuing codes or payments.

Only last week, the federal government formally inaugurated the Governing Council of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

The council was tasked to reduce the financial burden of healthcare on Nigerians by driving universal health coverage.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, highlighted some important milestones achieved under the current leadership.

He revealed that over 4 million Nigerians, including youths, have been enrolled in the past 18 months, with the NHIS covering treatment for over 4,000 women undergoing emergency cesarean sections, among others.

In related news, the federal government has pledged to ensure that youths across Nigeria are protected from out-of-pocket spending when accessing healthcare services.

Obinna Ebirim, the technical adviser to the Minister of Youth and Development, said this at the launch and stakeholders’ dialogue on youth health financing in Abuja, attended by Legit.ng.

This was in response to a report from the Development Education Network (DEAN Initiative), in partnership with the Government of Ireland, showing that most young people, especially the unemployed, are uninsured.

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Source: Legit.ng