Ikubese Knocks Delta State Contributory Health Commission Over Poor Capitation
Former presidential aspirant and Medical Director of Sckyé hospitals ltd Akure, Dr Thomas-Wilson Ikubese has chided the management of Delta State Contributory Health Commission (DSCHC) over the payment of monthly capitation of five hundred naira for public health facilities and five hundred and twenty naira for private health facilities in the state.
This followed the presentation made by Dr Isaac Akpoveta, the Director-General of DSCHC at the two-day maiden National Summit of States Social Health Insurance Agencies (SSHIAs) held at the International Culture and Event Centre (DOME), Alagbaka Akure, Ondo State, with the theme, Economic Realities and the Universal Healthcare Dream: Mobilizing States for a Scalable Health Insurance, on 8th and 9th June.
At the panel session, Ikubese stated that following an actuarial study conducted nationwide in 2025, the National Health Insurance Agency pegged the monthly capitation per enrollee at one thousand four hundred and fifty naira. He therefore said he found it very embarrassing that the DSCHC is paying one third of that amount in 2026.
According to Ikubese, the quality of healthcare accessed by enrollees on any health insurance scheme, is a function of the quality of capitation paid to that facility.
He inferred that state insurance agencies cannot be paying peanuts to Healthcare Providers and expect them to give quality service to enrollees. According to him, the drugs used in treating NHIA enrollees and enrollees of State Health Insurance Agencies are sourced from the same pharmaceutical companies at the same rate. Managing them on different tariffs therefore runs contrary to logic.
He further went on to state that it is his opinion that at no time should any State Health Insurance scheme pay capitation less than the amount paid by NHIA as both bodies play in the same market.
Earlier during his presentation, Dr Akpoveta had stated that the five hundred and twenty naira capitation paid to private Healthcare Providers is one of the highest in the country, a claim dispelled by Dr Ikubese, who mentioned that Ondo State Contributory Health Commission pays seven hundred and fifty naira, even though Providers are of the opinion that this amount is still low.
Ikubese who is the Convener of YesWeFit Revolutionary Movement also advocated that all the State Social Health Insurance Agencies in Nigeria should embrace transparency in their operations wherein each state floats a website and cede a domain to each Healthcare Provider where they shall upload their claims monthly. The Third Party Administrators (TPA) shall then vet these claims on the website, clearly stating the reasons for every of their vetting actions thereby making reconciliation where necessary seamless. Payment of capitation and claims shall also be reflected on the website.
Ikubese believes that if these measures are introduced into the state health insurance schemes nationwide, it will be a win-win situation for all the stakeholders in the health sector.
Earlier at the opening ceremony, the governor of Ondo state, His Excellency Dr Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa welcomed all the participants across the federation and pledged his continuous support for health insurance in the state. He disclosed that his administration has directed that all retired Ondo state civil servants be enrolled for free into the Orange Health Insurance Scheme, fully funded by the government of Ondo state, a gesture that was applauded by all the participants at the summit.
