Level and Correlates of Health Insurance Coverage in Nigeria: Evidence from 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.

Oluwatobi Alawode, Department of Sociology, University of Florida

Health insurance is key to Universal Health Coverage. In Nigeria, there are various health insurance schemes but coverage has been reported to be very low for various reasons. In developing policies and strategies to increase coverage, understanding the barriers to uptake is vital. Hence, this study investigated the level and correlates of health insurance coverage in Nigeria. Data from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (n=54,948) was analyzed using Stata 14. It was found that health insurance coverage is low in Nigeria and the factors that significantly predict ownership of health insurance are age, level of education, household wealth index, type of occupation, ethnicity, and level of exposure to mass media. In ensuring good health and wellbeing for all by 2030, health insurance is important and it is recommended that just as it is being done in some states, the national government should consider subsidizing health insurance for all