The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Ultimate Health Management Services, Otunba Lekan Ewenla, has called for a robust nationwide campaign to ensure compliance with the Federal Government’s directive requiring all employers with at least five staff to enrol their employees in a health insurance programme. Ewenla made the call in a statement released on Thursday, emphasising the need for public awareness and collaboration between stakeholders to drive effective implementation of the policy.
He urged Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) to work closely with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) to educate companies on the benefits and obligations of the directive. According to him, most employers already provide medical allowances for staff, meaning that compliance with the law does not necessarily require additional spending.
“Employers are already responsible for the medical needs of their employees by law. What they need to do is convert the medical allowances they are already paying into health insurance premiums,” Ewenla said. He noted that standard payroll configurations include a portion of employees’ basic salary as medical allowance, alongside other benefits such as housing, transportation, and utilities.
He highlighted the successful rollout of the public-sector health insurance scheme in 2005, where the government converted 10 per cent of civil servants’ basic salary—previously paid as medical allowance—into health insurance premiums. “The same model can be applied to private-sector companies. Compliance with this directive does not have to increase company spending. Whatever is being paid as medical allowance should simply be redirected to fund health insurance for staff,” Ewenla explained.
The Ultimate Health MD also underscored that the mandatory enrolment policy is designed to create a unified national database of insured employees, linked to their National Identification Numbers (NINs). He said this would enable better planning, improved accountability, and more efficient management of healthcare services across the country.
Ewenla further stated that higher participation in health insurance schemes could help reverse the ongoing exodus of medical professionals from Nigeria. He explained that increased subscriber numbers would boost financial inflows into the health sector, allowing healthcare operators to improve infrastructure and offer better remuneration to doctors, nurses, and other staff.
“We expect more doctors and nurses to return and take up appointments. Healthcare facilities will be able to pay better salaries because, like every other business, healthcare thrives on the volume of patronage,” he said.
According to Ewenla, the collaboration between HMOs and employers is crucial to reaching smaller firms and organisations that may be unaware of the directive. He emphasised that education and awareness campaigns would play a key role in encouraging enrolment and ensuring that workers across Nigeria gain access to quality healthcare services.
He concluded that systematic compliance with the government directive would not only improve the health and well-being of employees but also strengthen the nation’s healthcare system as a whole.
