NHIA expands cover to cut cancer treatment costs
The National Health Insurance Authority has expanded insurance support to cut cancer treatment costs, shielding eligible patients from 80% of medicine cost Read More: https://punchng.com/nhia-expands-cover-to-cut-cancer-treatment-costs/
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has expanded insurance coverage for cancer treatment to reduce the financial burden on patients and their families. Under the new measures, eligible patients are shielded from 80% of the cost of selected cancer medicines, with increased support for radiotherapy, diagnostic tests and other cancer care aspects.
Dr Kelechi Ohiri, NHIA Director-General, emphasized that the insurance system's effectiveness should be measured by meaningful protection against high-cost illnesses rather than simply increasing enrolment figures. The expanded cost-sharing partnership with pharmaceutical company Roche covers 50% of the cost of selected oncology medicines, while the NHIA contributes 30%, and patients pay the remaining 20%.
Additional financial support ranges from N400,000 to full coverage for eligible radiotherapy patients. These measures aim to address the high out-of-pocket expenditure associated with cancer treatment, which currently affects over 23 million Nigerians enrolled in the national health insurance system. The interventions align with the Federal Government's National Cancer Control Plan 2026-2030 and support the expansion of oncology workforce and facilities.
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- NHIA expands cover to cut cancer treatment costs punchng.com
