Director General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Professor Mohammed Sambo has refuted reports in a section of the media (not THISDAY) that the NHIA Act 2022 has mandated a 15 per cent deduction from workers’ salaries as health tax monthly.
In a chat with journalists in Lagos, Sambo said he was disappointed with the report noting that he had in several forum dissected the issue and sources of funding of the 83 million vulnerable Nigerians targeted for health insurance inclusion.
According to Sambo, the said report quoted the federal government as saying that all Nigerian employers and employees would be mandated to contribute 15 per cent of their salaries to the NHIA scheme.
Sambo said there was no part of the NHIA Act that has conveyed a mandatory 15 per cent health tax on workers’ salaries describing the report as lies from the pit of hell promoted by unscrupulous elements within the healthcare system to destabilise the new Act in place to bring about an unprecedented reform in the nation’s healthcare delivery system.
He said, “I have convened meetings with you guys (journalists) in Abuja last week. All the media were there. I have dissected all the contents of the Act to you, there was nowhere I mentioned 15 per cent. You have received that report why then is somebody telling you about 15 percent and you listen to him? We are to interpret the content of the Act not somebody from the backside that will come and interpret the Act.
“So, why is somebody trying to put something that is not there? That’s my question. I have convened a very comprehensive meeting with all the media representatives and I had taken time to explain contents of the new law. I did not mention anything 15percent. So if you want to take a story and make it a policy you are left alone.”
Asked where the alleged 15 percent emanated, Sambo said, “I don’t know you can go and do an investigative journalism to know where it came from, find where’s the source of that information.”
He however said there used to be 15 per cent before salary was consolidated and ever since salary was consolidated in 2004 nobody has been talking about 15percent.
The NHIA boss said he has met with service providers, met with international partners, HMOs, CMDs and medical directors insisting that all the mechanism of dissemination of information has been contacted.
Sambo explained further that there was nothing to change as par the contribution of workers as a result of this, adding that the contribution remains constant.
“The 5percent we are getting is the 5percent of consolidated revenue being a consolidate salary of a worker coming to us. So, nobody is talking about 15percent of health tax on workers’ salaries, ”he said.
