The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has called on healthcare providers to give equal attention to NYSC corps members whenever they come to access their facilities.

The Nasarawa State Coordinator of the authority, Mrs Mary Aliu, made the appeal at a one-day stakeholders forum on the NHIA results oriented benefits of the programme in Lafia.
She said this measure would improve the health status of beneficiaries and for the overall development of the country.
“Please stop turning corps members back, please do not turn back our corpers; whenever they come to you and you are not satisfied call us or call the Health Maintenance Organisation,” Aliu urged.
She explained that the new NHIA Act signed into law recently by former President Muhammadu Buhari has made it mandatory for all Nigerians to subscribe to the programme.
Aliu said the new law made it mandatory for all Nigerians to have access to health insurance irrespective of their locations.
The coordinator restated the sustained commitment of NHIA to deliver on its mandate of making healthcare delivery accessible and affordable to all Nigerians.
In his presentation titled “An overview of the NHIA operational guidelines 2023”, Head of Department, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Mr Ernest Tarbo, explained that the NHIA Act, which repealed the previous NHIS, was aimed at achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all Nigerians.
Tarbo said the new operational guideline was to ensure that health insurance is mandatory for every Nigerian and legal resident.
“Also to promote, regulate and integrate health insurance scheme in the country, and to improve and harness private sector participation in the provision of healthcare service,” he said.
On his part, Mr Maris Peter, from the Department of Standard and Quality Assurance, NHIA, highlighted the conditions for denial of claims.
Peter warned that claims submitted by providers for payment would be denied if such claims are submitted on a format other than the authorised claims forms or electronic data format/channel.
The interaction focused on series of issues, including ways of identifying challenges and developing strategies to accelerate the implementation of the NHIA Act and healthcare providers.
The forum brought together various stakeholders including boards, government officials, healthcare providers, civil society organisations and private sector.