Mirian Gom 
NHIA Director-General, Kelechi Ohiri
ABUJA, Nigeria — The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has refunded more than N14.2 million to enrollees and suspended nine healthcare facilities following complaints about services provided under Nigeria’s health insurance system.
The authority also issued 368 warning letters to healthcare providers after resolving 3,878 complaints, its Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, said.
Ohiri disclosed this in Abuja during the inaugural Civil Society Organisation-led Mid-Year Review of Nigeria’s National Health Sector Reforms.
According to a statement issued by the NHIA on Sunday, the enforcement measures form part of efforts to strengthen patient protection and improve the quality of healthcare delivered through the national health insurance system.
“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 statement said.
The authority said it had deployed inspection teams to healthcare facilities to monitor compliance with its one-hour treatment authorisation policy and other patient-protection and quality-of-care requirements.
The enforcement measures come as national health insurance enrolment rises from about 16 million at the beginning of the current administration to more than 23 million.
The NHIA also said more than 2.7 million poor and vulnerable Nigerians had received support through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.
Ohiri said the authority was moving beyond policy formulation and legislation to ensure that insurance coverage translated into access to healthcare and financial protection.
“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.
The NHIA said recent reforms had led to a 93 per cent increase in capitation and a 378 per cent rise in fee-for-service reimbursements.
It added that more than 7,500 healthcare facilities had undergone digital assessment under the SafeCare quality framework.
The authority also announced expanded support for cancer patients through a cost-sharing arrangement with pharmaceutical company Roche for selected oncology medicines.
Under the arrangement, Roche covers 50 per cent of the cost, the NHIA pays 30 per cent and eligible patients contribute the remaining 20 per cent.
Eligible radiotherapy patients can also receive financial support ranging from N400,000 to full coverage.
Other covered cancer-related services 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 NHIA further reported that more than 51,000 people had been covered under its HIV and tuberculosis programme in 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 tuberculosis.
The authority said it had begun accrediting more than 2,000 healthcare facilities ahead of a planned nationwide expansion of HIV and tuberculosis coverage in 2027.
In maternal and newborn healthcare, the NHIA said its interventions had reached more than 93,000 women and newborns.
The figure includes 79,221 women, 7,500 newborns and 6,044 women treated for fistula.
It also reported that case fatality at participating maternal health facilities declined by 22 per cent, from 1,042 in the 2024 baseline to 810 as of August 2026.
Despite the progress, Ohiri acknowledged that most Nigerians remained outside the health insurance system.
“We have made substantial progress, but we are not where we need to be. Over 23 million Nigerians covered is significant, but it also tells us that there are many more Nigerians who are still outside the system,” he said.
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