Managers of Health Insurance Scheme, FHIS, in the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, have organised a Stakeholders engagement meeting to review the new guidelines of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, BHCPF.
The BHCPF is a pool of funds made up of 1% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and donor contributions meant to be accessed by States and the FCT in a bid to enhance the attainment of universal healthcare coverage for the poor and vulnerable.
At the stakeholders meeting, the FCT Health Insurance Scheme is taking the lead to prepare its critical stakeholders, mostly the primary and secondary healthcare providers to understand the new guidelines and how to maximally benefit from them.
Speaking during the FHIS Stakeholder Engagement Meeting in Abuja Nigeria’s capital, the Acting Secretary, FCT Health and Human Service Secretariat, Dr Mohammed Kawu commended the management of the FHIS for leading on the campaign towards achieving the Universal Health coverage across the country as revealed by the National Health insurance scheme.
The Secretary who was represented by the Deputy Director, Health Financing, Dr Salihu Koro Muhammad, who is the Desk Officer for the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund at the Health and Human Services Secretariat of the FCTA, expressed the readiness of the FCT Primary Healthcare Board due to arrangements put on the ground.
Dr Kawu further disclosed that so far, FCT has enrolled more than 40000 enrollees for them to access the basic healthcare system.
He charged the management of the scheme to always be at the forefront and serve as an example for all states government to imbibe as the Federal government hopes to roll out health insurance enrollment across the country.
While reminding them that, Abuja especially the FCTA is an extension of the Federal Government, he urged them to ensure that the scheme works perfectly in the nation’s capital.
He also charged them to develop a more robust benefits package that is different from the NHIS so that more diseases can be captured.
The Director, FCT Health insurance scheme, Dr Ahmed Danfulani explained that the revised new guidelines became necessary following observations by the National Assembly on some aspects of the old guidelines which they said was largely skewed against the masses it was designed to serve.
He explained that the meeting was meant to afford critical stakeholders an opportunity to interact and get familiar with the new requirements of the new guidelines adding that one of the guidelines is the mandatory use of NIN to enrol the enrollees for proper record.
Dr Danfulani said that it was aimed at reviewing the gaps and also to discuss solutions to strengthen areas of identified gaps.
“Sensitising their PHCs and relevant stakeholders on the new BHCPF guidelines, review PHC reporting template and monitoring mechanism, to discuss technicalities of claims management for prompt payment of claims for the BHCPF and Modalities for selection of beneficiaries to the BHCPF roll-out.“
Danfulani assured residents of the FCT that most of the primary healthcare systems are equal to the task of providing quality health care services for the poor and most vulnerable persons in the FCT.
Dr Saleh Mansur Ashafa from Ayaura Comprehensive PHC Abaji, one of the implementing PHC, stated that the new guidelines will mark a huge step forward towards achieving UHC in the FCT.
Participants at the meeting brainstorm through presentations, discussions all geared towards familiarization with the new guidelines and how their individual PHCs can take maximum advantage of the BHCPF scheme.
PIAK
