ABSTRACT

The central theme of this study is healthcare financing with focus on the Social

Health Insurance system (National Health Insurance Scheme - NHIS) for Nigeria.

Like other developing countries of the world, the Nigerian government has been

constrained in its effort to provide free healthcare services to its teeming population

largely as a result of the global economic recession, Structural Adjustment

Programme (SAP), IMF/World Bank imposed conditionalities of reduced public

spending on social services (including health), and devaluation of the naira. These,

coupled with a rapid population growth and political instability have resulted (over

years) in a gradual decline in government expenditure on healthcare and an

attendant deterioration of public healthcare services in terms of both quality and

quantity.

This has reflected visibly on the health indices for Nigeria as evidenced by the high

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and the life expectancy at

birth (55yrs).

In response to this, the Nigerian g