Relationship between Level of Education of National Health Insurance Scheme Enrollees and Accessibility of Health Care Services in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Health insurance is a form of managed care services that pools regular financial contributions of members and pays a network of providers of healthcare for a defined specific set of healthcare services that in turn are accountable for cost containment and improving health outcomes. The objective of this study was to find out if the Level of Education of the respondents affects their knowledge of the benefits package of the National Health Insurance Scheme. The study adopted a descriptive and cross-sectional research design. Data was collected via the Level of Education of Enrollee & Rights / Package Benefit (LEEPB). The LEEPB was designed and standardized by the researchers with a reliability coefficient of 0.8. A purposeful and simple random sampling was used to select 500 enrollees within the National Health Insurance Scheme in Bayelsa State. Data was analyzed with the aid of SPSS version 28. Results showed that the level of education of enrollees influences the utilization of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Bayelsa State. Most of the enrollees reported that they can only receive medical care if the hospital is within the study area. Respondents had greater access to health services than before due to NHIS in the study area, healthcare providers demand fees for beds from the day one of hospital admission, NHIS desk officers did not educate respondents on the benefits of enrollees that registered under the scheme, NHIS only provide primary services for adults. Also, the study confirmed that hospitals do not treat NHIS enrollees with respect and NHIS has the right to stop medical treatment due to change in a healthcare facility, enrollees are educated on the cost of adding extra dependent, enrollees are not expected to know anything about the exclusion and inclusion list of NHIS and only government workers can register with NHIS. The study concluded that the educational level of NHIS users can promote the effective implementation and utilization of NHIS. Hence, more sensitization should be done by healthcare providers and other relevant stakeholders on the need for individuals to enrol on NHIS.