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Health is an important determinant of economic development; a healthy population means higher productivity and higher income per head. Human health, as an essential part of any societal economic activity, also assumes a prominent position on the Maslow hierarchical ladder of human needs. Thus, without good health conditions, an economy loses its ability to develop competitive productivity, which possibly hinders economic growth. In general, when global health conditions are disrupted by a pandemic, a severe global economic crisis may emerge, as has been witnessed by the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 – a situation that will potentially continue in the years ahead according to the World Bank, 2021.
It is no longer news that health insurance is an important mechanism to prevent financial hardship in the process of accessing healthcare services. What is of great concern is the fact that since the launch of Nigeria's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2005, only 59% of Nigerians have health insurance and 70% still finance their healthcare through Out-Of-Pocket (OOP) expenditure!