National Health Insurance Scheme and Health Care Needs of Federal Medical Centre Workers, in Makurdi, Benue State Nigeria

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of National Health Insurance Scheme on the health care needs of workers in Federal Medical Centre Makurdi, Benue State Nigeria. The data for the study were collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Questionnaires were administered on a sample of 341 respondents. Data analysis was quantitative and qualitative in nature. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the level of awareness about NHIS among the staff of FMC; assess the National Health Insurance healthcare services available in FMC Makurdi; examine the health care needs of the staff of FMC Makurdi; examine the impact of NHIS on health needs of workers in FMC Makurdi; assess the challenges of implementing NHIS in FMC Makurdi and suggest ways of minimising the implementation challenges of NHIS in FMC Makurdi. The analysed results show that, though all the staff of FMC, Makurdi were registered members of the National Health Insurance Scheme, many of them lacked adequate awareness on key issues about the Scheme, Federal Medical Centre Makurdi offers several healthcare services under the NHIS, even though the NHIS was overwhelmingly accepted by staff of FMC Makurdi as having a positive impact on staff of the FMC such as reducing the financial hardship of their medical bills, affordable services and greater access to medical care, the scheme is not perfect. The study therefore, recommends among other that there is need for aggressive awareness programme of the scheme in order to reveal its benefits to all Nigeria citizens.This study assesses the impact of National Health Insurance Scheme on the health care needs of workers in Federal Medical Centre Makurdi, Benue State Nigeria. Health Systems Performance Assessment Theory was used to explain that health systems vary widely in performance across countries and assessment of health programmes should be centred around three fundamental goals: improving health, enhancing responsiveness to the expectations of the population, and assuring fairness of financial contribution. The data for the study were collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Questionnaires were administered on a sample of 341 respondents (FMC staff Makurdi) initially determined through Taro Yamane Formula and selected through cluster and simple random sampling technique across three populations sub-grouping (clusters) of Clinical Staff, Finance staff and Administration staff. In-depth interviews were conducted with NHIS Staff Makurdi and FMC Staff Makurdi. Data analysis was quantitative and qualitative in nature. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the level of awareness about NHIS among the staff of FMC; assess the National Health Insurance healthcare services available in FMC Makurdi; examine the health care needs of the staff of FMC Makurdi; examine the impact of NHIS on health needs of workers in FMC Makurdi; assess the challenges of implementing NHIS in FMC Makurdi and suggest ways of minimising the implementation challenges of NHIS in FMC Makurdi. The analysed results show that, though all the staff of FMC, Makurdi were registered members of the National Health Insurance Scheme, many of them lacked adequate awareness on key issues about the Scheme. The study also found that Federal Medical Centre Makurdi offers several healthcare services under NHIS. Further, the study found that the most important healthcare needs of the staff of FMC Makurdi were the ability to afford medical bills for the family members, to able to get quality treatment from healthcare providers, getting quality drugs, getting quick healthcare services, and getting adequate awareness on health issues. Very, importantly the study revealed that even though the National Health Insurance Scheme was overwhelmingly accepted by staff of FMC Makurdi as having a positive impact on staff of the FMC in various ways such as reducing the financial hardship of their medical bills, affordable services and greater access to medical care some adjustments were needed to be made to ensure more effective results. The study also uncovered several challenges against the effective implementation of NHIS in FMC Makurdi. The study concluded that so far the staff of FMC Makurdi have experienced the positive impact of the National Health Insurance Scheme in several ways, particularly in reducing the financial hardship of their medical bills. However, the scheme was yet to be perfect. The study, therefore, recommends among other things that there is a need for an aggressive awareness programme of NHIS in order to reveal its benefits to all Nigeria citizens.