Challenges of Implementing Tertiary Institution Social Health Insurance Programme: Empirical Evidence From Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Managed care is still prematurely implemented in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. This study then examined the challenges of implementing Tertiary Institution Social Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP) in federal universities in southwest Nigeria between 2005 and 2019. Primary and secondary data were used for this study, while University of Ibadan (U.I.) and Obafemi Awolowo University (O.A.U.) were purposively selected from the study population. The study concluded that the following challenges confront the implementation of TISHIP in southwest Nigeria, and these include: irregular feedback in the implementation of TISHIP (RII=3.52), failure to educate students about the benefits of implementing TISHIP (RII=3.50), lack of public advocacy to generate support for the objectives of TISHIP (RII=3.45), lack of transparency in the collection and remmitance of the sickness fund (RII=3.01), and poorly constituted TISHIP management committee. The recommendations of the study suggest a robust funding for implementing TISHIP to enhance the capacity of the Scheme to provide accessible and affordable health care services for students of federal universities in southwest Nigeria.