The National Health Insurance Authority has refunded more than N14.2m to enrollees and suspended nine healthcare facilities following complaints about servicesNHIA refunds N14.2m to enrollees, suspends nine healthcare facilities provided under Nigeria’s health insurance system.
The authority also issued 368 warning letters to healthcare providers after resolving 3,878 complaints, according to a statement released by the agency on Sunday.
The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the NHIA, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, disclosed the figures in Abuja during the inaugural Civil Society Organisation-led Mid-Year Review of Nigeria’s National Health Sector Reforms.
The statement said, “NHIA has strengthened patient protection, resolving 3,878 complaints and refunding more than N14.2m to affected enrollees. It has also issued 368 warning letters and suspended nine healthcare facilities.”
The authority said it had also deployed inspection teams to healthcare facilities to monitor compliance with its one-hour treatment authorisation policy, as well as other patient-protection and quality-of-care requirements.
The enforcement measures came as national health insurance enrolment rose from about 16 million at the start of the current administration to more than 23 million.
The authority also said more than 2.7 million poor and vulnerable Nigerians had received healthcare support through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.
Ohiri said the authority was shifting its focus beyond policy and legislation to ensure that health insurance coverage translated into actual access to healthcare and greater financial protection for enrollees.
“We have moved from policy and legislation to measurable implementation. The next task is to move from coverage to reliable access, from reliable access to better health outcomes, and from insurance membership to genuine financial protection,” he said in the statement.
The NHIA said its recent reforms had led to a 93 per cent increase in capitation and a 378 per cent rise in fee-for-service reimbursements, while more than 7,500 healthcare facilities had been digitally assessed under the SafeCare quality framework.
The authority also expanded support for cancer patients through a cost-sharing partnership with pharmaceutical company Roche covering selected oncology medicines. Under the arrangement, Roche pays 50 per cent of the cost, the NHIA covers 30 per cent, while patients contribute the remaining 20 per cent.
Eligible radiotherapy patients can also access financial support ranging from N400,000 to full coverage. Other cancer-related services covered under the scheme include mammography, CT and MRI scans, bone scans, diagnostic tests and radiotherapy.
“For us, coverage has to mean something when people become ill. Cancer is one of the clearest examples of why health insurance matters,” Ohiri said.
The authority also said more than 51,000 people had been enrolled under its HIV and tuberculosis programme across Anambra, Ebonyi, Gombe and Kwara states as of September 3, 2026.
The beneficiaries include more than 38,000 people living with HIV, over 7,400 patients with drug-sensitive tuberculosis and 594 patients with drug-resistant TB.
The NHIA also said it had begun accrediting more than 2,000 healthcare facilities ahead of a planned nationwide expansion of HIV/AIDS and TB coverage in 2027.
Under its maternal and newborn healthcare interventions, the authority said more than 93,000 women and newborns had been reached. The figure included 79,221 women, 7,500 newborns and 6,044 women who received treatment for fistula.
