Reduced Out of Pocket Spending among Enrolled Employees in Government Institutions: How Effective is the National Health Insurance Scheme?

Abstract

The study examined the impact of the National Health Insurance Scheme on reduced out of pocket spending among enrolled employees in government institutions. Adopting the survey research method, data was collected from 1200 samples employed in three federal Government Institutions in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria using a structured self-developed questionnaire. The samples were selected using the purposive and proportional sampling technique. Descriptive analysis was used to present result and linear regression was used to check the relationship between the variable under study at 0.05 confidence level. The result from the descriptive analysis revealed that 84 per cent of the participants agreed that The NHIS has reduced the cost of hospital bills for them. Result also revealed participants 62 per cent, point out that there are still medical treatments that they pay out of their pocket. Regression analysis revealed a moderate correlation (29%) between awareness of NHIS and reduced out of pocket spending the F (1, 1112) = 33.065; p < .000).  The study concludes that NHIS has significantly contributed to reduced out of pocket spending. Out-of-pocket spending is still a problem; hence Governments and decision-makers need to come up with policies to address this problem.