Uptake of Community Based Health Insurance in Eleme LGA of Rivers State

The purpose of this study was to determine the uptake of community based social health insurance scheme and associated factors in Eleme LGA in Rivers state, Nigeria. The increasing cost of health care services and development is a major concern to government in developed and developing countries. Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) is an emerging concept for providing financial protection against the cost of illness and improving access to quality health services for households who are excluded from formal insurance. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A multi-staged sampling technique and interviewer-administered questionnaire were used. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21.0. The Chi-square test was used to test for associated between categorical variables at 95% confidence interval, and level of significance was set at a p-value of ≤ 0.05. Only 126(61.8%) were enrolled in the CBHI, though 168 (82.4%) were aware of the scheme. Reasons for not enrolling were lack of awareness and failure to cover health problems. A statistically significant association was observed between age, sex, marital status, educational level, status in household, employment status and enrollment into CBHI (P≤ 0.05). There is a need to improve awareness of the CBHI, and also increase the benefit package coverage offered.