The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) of Nigeria as part of its ongoing reform dubbed “Health Insurance Under One Roof” expressed interest in visiting Ghana to understudy Ghana’s Health Insurance to feed into their reforms’ efforts. In fulfilment of one of AfHEA’s core objectives of providing technical support to African countries to facilitate evidence-based decisions, AfHEA facilitated and coordinated this study visit by NHIS Nigeria.

As an activity that aligns with the mandate and objectives of AfHEA, the Association worked closely with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) of Ghana to coordinate and fast-track the study visit with detailed planned activities and facilitation both before and during the visit. The study visit was undertaken from March 1 – March 6, 2020. The Nigerian delegation comprised Prof. Mohammed Nasir Sambo – Executive Secretary National Health Insurance Scheme, Mr. Issa Ateiza – General Manager, Planning Research and Monitoring Department and Mr. Adelaja Abereoran – Head of the Special Services Division.

The overall purpose was to study the functioning of Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) within the wider health sector framework in Ghana. Specific areas of interest to the delegation included Membership coverage and enrolment i.e. formal and informal sector coverage and enrolment, Provider payment mechanisms, Quality assurance and quality of healthcare delivery, Health technology application and mobile health insurance (digitalization of operations including enrolment, data updates, claims management, referrals, payments etc), Regulatory, policy, coordination and governance issues and Provider-payer relationships

The study visit saw NHIS Nigeria and NHIA Ghana organize meetings with presentations and detailed discussion on the specific areas of interest to the Nigerian team outlined above. In addition, there were meetings with the Ministry of Health of Ghana and the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA) with the aim of learning about regulatory issues. There were meetings with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), to learn about provider relations and quality of care issues. Finally, there were site visits and meetings to district offices of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) of Ghana and some selected health facilities to learn of operational issues.