A Comparative Analysis of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) In Nigeria

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was introduced for the purpose of attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Nigeria. However, a report from the Nigerian Medical Association indicated that NHIS has less than 5% enrolment over 20 years after its establishment. In effort towards bridging the above gap, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) was introduced in 2022. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to interrogate the extent to which the NHIA has guaranteed Universal Health Coverage in comparison with NHIS. The paper adopted a qualitative technique of data collection with the use of textual content analysis of documents obtained from the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), World Health Organisation (WHO), NHIS, NHIA, health reports, circulars, and empirical studies. The findings of the paper reveal that both the NHIS and NHIA have not been able to guarantee Universal Health Coverage (UHC) due to insufficient manpower, inadequate equipment, non-availability of essential drugs, lack of protection for vulnerable groups and poor service delivery. Therefore, the study recommends for proper supervision and regulation of health care service providers by NHIA in order to enforce compliance with relevant laws. Similarly, the challenges of poor funding, corruption, poor serviced delivery, protection of vulnerable groups, lack of sufficient drugs and facilities should be addressed amicably by NHIA. Received: 22 April 2025 / Accepted: 28 June 2025 / Published: 15 July 2025