Awareness and Willingness to Pay for Community-Based Health Insurance Scheme among Patients: A Case Study of the Orthopaedic Unit of Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital Kano, Northwest Nigeria

Background: Globally, there are about 1.3 billion people without access to adequate health care because of weak health care financing systems. Literature has shown that 13% (approximately 44 million) of households face financial catastrophic health care costs in any given year and 6% (approximately 25 million) are pushed below the poverty line. While donor funds have made a significant contribution to improving health care services in many African countries—especially for malaria and HIV/AIDS—the need for additional domestic sources of finance remains a priority, if health systems are to be sustainable. Community-Based Health Financing scheme is an alternative mechanism to providing access for the poor, unemployed and those living in the rural areas; most of who are not under the NHIS nor any private health insurance scheme that could provide financial protection against illness. Since CBHF has proven to be an attractive option in funding the health systems of most developing countries, there is need to scale-up the community-based health financing scheme in Nigeria. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at the orthopaedic outpatient clinic of Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital (MMSH) Kano, northwest Nigeria. Using a total of 260 closed- and open-ended interviewer/self-administered questionnaire on patients between the ages of 18 – 80 years of age excluding those with emergencies, the sampled data were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS version 21) and presented using tables and charts with the aid of Microsoft excel. Results: The analyses show that out of a total 260 responses collated 221 (85.0%) were females and 39 (15.0%) were males. Furthermore, the analyses show that out of the 260 responses, only 98 (37.8%) were aware of the community-based health insurance scheme. The willingness to pay for community-based health insurance scheme shows a sizeable 34 (13.1%) only willing to pay for the scheme. Conclusion: This study underscores the need to promote community-based health insurance (CBHI) scheme and encourage more people to participate. This approach would ensure that health care is accessible to all and sundry. However, this can only be possible through a robust awareness plan and public enlightenment about its merits especially in the rural areas to dispel false rumors about the CBHI.