Since the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2003, the enrolment rate has increased to 40% of the population and has significantly contributed to increased health service utilization and decreasing out-of-pocket payments and catastrophic health expenditures. This paper examines the NHIS, analysing its governance arrangements and purchasing functions; and providing recommendations for improvement. The study applied the Strategic Health Purchasing Progress Tracking Framework co-created by the Strategic Purchasing Africa Resource Center (SPARC). Results show that the NHIS has made progress towards strategic purchasing in how it selects the services in the benefit package, regularly reviewing the package to respond to the population health needs. Advances have also been made in contracting with providers, particularly in the private sector, to ensure that standards for quality of care are met. However, challenges remain in performance monitoring, in part due to manual claims processing, and timeliness of provider payment.
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