A Health Management Organisation, Ultimate Health has launched the Diaspora Health Insurance programme, which will enable Nigerians in the United States and the United Kingdom to acquire medical insurance coverage for their families.
  
The Chief Executive Officer, Ultimate Health HMO, Lekan Ewenla, said that the initiative was in line with the responsibilities of accredited HMOs as the statutory drivers of enrollment of Nigerians in the programme and towards the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the country.
  
He recalled that the Federal Government in May 2022 enacted the National Health Insurance Authority Act, which makes health insurance mandatory for all Nigerians and legal residents, as well as ensures the well-being of Nigerians and reverses the nation’s poor health indices.
  
Ewenla told The Guardian that the firm conducted research on the rate of financial support from Nigerians in Diaspora to their parents, siblings and other relatives and discovered that the amount of financial support was humongous.
  
He stated that though the financial support was mostly placed on the doorstep of medical care, which elicits prompt attention, Ultimate Health findings revealed that the financial assistance is mostly diverted to other major needs of the recipients.
  
He said: “Our opinion polls revealed that most Nigerians in Diaspora will prefer to enroll their families back and even themselves on the health insurance programme to ensure the wellbeing of their families. It is common knowledge that the volume of Nigerians in the Diaspora is huge and that was a major reason for the Federal Government to establish Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).”
  
According to him, the HMO developed this programme with the knowledge, support and necessary data of Associations of Nigerians in Diaspora provided by the NIDCOM.
  
He observed that with the new NHIA Act, it is expected that all Nigerians, including those that are seen and known to be vulnerable, are enrolled in the health insurance programme, adding that the new law recognises 83 million Nigerians to be vulnerable.
  
He stressed the need for the Federal Government to provide two per cent of the consolidated revenue to provide coverage of basic health services for those vulnerable Nigerians, who cannot afford to pay premiums as recommended by the Lancet Nigeria Commission.
  
“The diaspora community emerged as crucial stakeholders in the driving of the health insurance programme towards the attainment of UHC as huge sums of funds are transferred back home regularly to support the medical needs of their parents and other dependents,” Ewenla added.