President Muhammadu Buhari has signed a new insurance law aimed at expanding coverage for vulnerable citizens unable to afford the costs of health care in Africa’s most populous country. 

The National Health Insurance Authority Bill 2022 will “ensure coverage of 83 million poor Nigerians who cannot afford to pay premiums,” Buhari said in an emailed statement. 

About eight out of 10 Nigerians do not have a health insurance cover in Africa’s largest economy, according to a November survey by NOI Polls, the country’s leading polling agency. A majority of Nigerians pay cash if they have to visit a health care facility when ill. 

The law sets up a vulnerable group fund that will be financed through a basic health care provision fund, health insurance levy, special intervention fund, as well as any investment proceeds, donations and gifts to the authority. 

Bloomberg