By John Oba
Abuja
National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has stated that it was ready to delist and prosecute all fraudulent Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) that had been hindrances to the effective working of the Scheme.
This is even as it announced that it had recovered over N1.3 billion “which is 90% of debts the HMOs owed hospitals across the country.”
Executive secretary of the Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, stated this when he visited the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the weekend.
Yusuf, who lamented the fraudulent attitudes of the HMOs, said the Scheme “is in the process of cleaning up the whole process and would not hesitate to delist and prosecute all HMOs caught in the unfortunate act.”
He said the HMOs were used to defrauding the enrollees in connivance with the hospitals, adding that most times enrollees were denied their proper benefits “so that the HMOs would not pay the hospitals the appropriate fees.”
He said: ““One of the first things is, how do we know if our enrollees are getting the right thing or not, that is why I am deploying desk officers nationwide. These desk officers will be there to advocate for enrollees and for them to be our ears and eyes.
“The desk officers are to tell us what is happening and I am cleaning and looking at all HMOs. HMOs nationwide that owns hospitals and have not paid hospitals, I am collecting all the debts owned hospitals nationwide and this HMOs will pay, If not I will delist them, I will slips their lives and I will take them to court to recover people’s money.
“When I came on board, in August, last year, they owed NHIS N1.3 billion and I have recovered over 90% of that debts from HMOs; they will pay NHIS and they would pay all hospitals.”
“I am holding hospitals, doctors, nurses and HMOs accountable and I am holding the NHIS too accountable to serve the people. We are here to serve and not be served and that is my purpose.”
He said the desk officers will be rotated to ensure that quarterly to ensure that the objective is not compromised.
