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<p>In an exclusive interview with CNBC Africa at the Future of Health Summit in Abuja, Nigeria&#8217;s Minister of Health Dr Osagie Ehanire disclosed that a bill to make health insurance mandatory in Nigeria is currently awaiting assent. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Chris Bishop started by asking him about increasing Nigeria&#8217;s budgetary allocation for healthcare.</p>


Osagie Ehanire: Bill to make health insurance compulsory awaiting assent

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<p>As the United Nations and World Health Organization prepare to observe World Health day on the 7th of this month, Chike Nwangwu, CEO of NOIPOLLS joins CNBC Africa to discuss ways to deepening health insurance in Nigeria.</p>


Deepening healthcare insurance in Nigeria

<p>By Suzanne Daniels</p>
<p>JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 20 November 2018.</p>
<p>The public outcry in response to Momentum’s decision not to pay Nathan Ganas’ family out following his tragic death at the hands of hijackers has raised some ethical questions. While Momentum may legally be in the right, South Africans are questioning the morality of its decision, writes Suzanne Daniels, lawyer and fellow of the Institute of Directors.</p>
<p>In March last year, Ganas was fatally wounded in a hail of bullets while trying to protect his wife and daughter during a hijacking. Ganas, however, was well insured through Momentum Life and thankfully the policy kicked in with an immediate release of R50,000 to cover urgent expenses such as funeral and living costs following the tragedy.</p>
<p>But that did not happen. The media reported that Ganas’ widow would have to pay back the instant cash pay-out and she would not be receiving the insured amount. Apparently, Ganas had a pre-existing condition, diabetes, which should have precluded him from even being insured in the first place. While his death was not even remotely caused by the condition, Momentum is within its legal rights to not pay out.</p>
<p>This decision resulted in public outrage – nobody can quite understand how bullets and blood-sugar relate to each other. The horrific way in which Ganas died would have happened no matter what his health status was.</p>
<p>Notably, South African law is very clear that contracts are binding. When it comes to civil law, such as in this case, there are no grey areas. If the contract states you will not be paid out if you did not disclose a pre-existing medical condition, then that’s what will happen. The manner of death does not come in to play.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that Momentum is correct in terms of the law. The public outcry has been about the morality of it. But just how do you navigate the grey areas between law and morality?</p>
<p>While Momentum may be correct in law and maintaining its business equity balance, it is displaying a lack of moral equity in this instance. The company has, however, redeemed itself somewhat by allowing Ganas’ widow to keep the R50 000 funeral benefit and agreeing to pay the premiums back to her.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there are no courts of equity in South Africa and the law can be relatively heartless. This is why it is vital that South Africans know what they are signing. Contracts are fully binding and if they don’t understand what their role is, or what the insurer’s role is, they can find themselves in a very tricky situation.</p>
<p>In an interview on Radio 702 with Bongani Bingwa, Momentum CEO Johan Le Roux stated that Nathan Ganas should not have been insured in the first place. So, whose fault is it then? Why was he given a policy and why did the insurer accept his monthly premiums? The answer isn’t exactly clear.</p>
<p>The insurance industry is highly regulated and there are checks and balances in place to ensure that both parties understand what is expected of them. But it seems there needs to be even more stringent checks in place so that a situation like Nathan Ganas doesn’t happen again. Consumers cannot be passive participants in their own lives and have a responsibility to educate themselves.</p>
<p>What is worth pondering, however, is whether the decision to not pay the claim was worth the subsequent negative publicity and potential loss of existing and future clients. Perhaps if Momentum had acted in good faith and supported the grieving family, it would have elevated its reputation amongst South Africans and boosted its social license to operate.</p>
<p>On a final note, I cannot stress enough how consumers need to know what they are signing. There does need to be an element of trust as well – they need to trust that the insurer can and will pay out a verified claim, and the insurer needs to trust that the consumer has actually been open and honest when answering questions relating to the risk assessment.</p>


OpEd: Was Momentum within their rights to decline R2.4m claim by Nathan Ganas’ family?

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<p>Sustainable health financing has long been recognised as an essential part of Universal Health Coverage and an important plank in achieving the aims of the Sustainable Development Goals. In recent years the concept has led to numerous health reforms.</p>


Focus on Africa’s healthcare

<p>Dakar, Senegal, 25 March 2017 – (ECA) – Africa’s health experts gathered in Dakar Saturday to discuss health financing and social protection to ensure there’s universal access to health on the continent amid worries that commitments by most governments and stakeholders on this issue were not being translated into action on the ground.</p>
<p>Speaking at the joint Economic Commission for Africa-World Health Organization event on health financing in Africa, the ECA’s Social Development Policy Division Director, Takyiwaa Manuh, said though African governments committed through the Abuja Declaration of 2001 and more recently the Tunis Declaration and others to put more money into health, many such commitments remain untranslated into concrete actions for reasons that range from inadequate resources to weak administrative and institutional mechanisms.</p>
<p>“In recent years, investment in health has been getting a raw deal in comparison to other sectors of the economy,” said Ms. Manuh, who spoke on behalf of ECA’s Deputy Executive Secretary Giovanne Biha.</p>
<p>“Member states are on average still far from meeting key health financial financing goals of allocating 15 percent of their national budgets towards health.”</p>
<p>By 2015, only Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Togo and Zambia had met the Abuja Declaration target.</p>
<p>Ms. Manu highlighted a number of innovative options she said could be explored by the continent to finance health in Africa.</p>
<p>First, she said, domestic resource mobilization for health financing was one of the most viable options, especially through strong institutions that collect and manage tax revenues.</p>
<p>Secondly, Ms. Manuh added, Africa should use economic rents from its rich natural resource endowments to finance its social development, including health, in a more transparent and sustainable manner, adding it was also important for the continent to harness remittances from the Diaspora into the health sector.</p>
<p>She said the introduction of health insurance and social insurance schemes and ensuring effective and efficient use of both public and private resources for the health sector was of paramount importance to the continent.</p>
<p>“Sustainable health financing will only be realized if there’s political will from all stakeholders to translate words into action,” said Ms. Manuh, adding the ECA remains committed to undertaking evidence-based research to generate robust recommendations to support policy formulation and implementation by member states on health financing.</p>
<p>“We are all accountable to our citizens and our citizens expect more from us so it cannot be business as usual. In this context, high-quality, timely and reliable data becomes extremely important to inform policy intervention in Africa.”</p>
<p>WHO Afro Regional Director, Matshidiso Moeti, said all efforts have to be taken to ensure health financing works for Africa.</p>
<p>“It is important for us to put more resources into the health sector because it is good for economic development and economic development is what we all want for the African continent and we feel that the health sector has more to contribute towards human capital which is so essential for countries to be successful in that regard,” said Ms. Moeti.</p>
<p>She said it has been a long time now since experts have been pleading with political leaders that people should not be dying needlessly due to preventable diseases and that health was a human right.</p>
<p>“Investing in health is a smart investment, we could save almost half of our GDP in future if we invest in health and if we look at how much we should invest it would be far less than what we will save in future or the trillions we will lose if we do not invest in health,” said Ms. Moeti.</p>
<p>She said Africans should also demand that their governments invest in health care.</p>
<p>Senegal’s Budget Minister, Birima Mangara, said his country was doing all it can to ensure it achieved universal health access, adding since 2012 the government has been putting more resources into health to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.</p>
<p>Senegal’s health minister Amarie Coll Seck gave an impassioned plea to health ministers and experts present, calling on the continent to have a holistic and sustainable human development approach ensuring greater budgetary allocations go to health.</p>
<p>“Our investments in the health sector have to be long term and critically there has to be accountability, leadership, and governance because they are critical is we are to achieve universal access,” said Ms. Coll Seck.</p>
<p>A technical report prepared by the ECA and the WHO was presented to the meeting with panel discussions delving into issues related to financing for health systems and programmes, epidemiology and the economic burden of disease in Africa and related issues.</p>
<p>The experts are expected to come up with recommendations of key actions related to health financing for ministers of finance in Africa.</p>


health insurance

Osagie Ehanire: Bill to make health insurance compulsory awaiting assent

Deepening healthcare insurance in Nigeria

OpEd: Was Momentum within their rights to decline R2.4m claim by Nathan Ganas’ family?

Focus on Africa’s healthcare

Africa Development Week: ways to increase health budgets for universal access

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health insurance

Osagie Ehanire: Bill to make health insurance compulsory awaiting assent

Deepening healthcare insurance in Nigeria

OpEd: Was Momentum within their rights to decline R2.4m claim by Nathan Ganas’ family?

Focus on Africa’s healthcare

Africa Development Week: ways to increase health budgets for universal access

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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