Tertiary institutions’ social health insurance program (TISHIP) in Southwestern Nigeria: How knowledgeable are the end-users?

The Tertiary Institutions Social Health Insurance Program (TISHIP) was created by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to enhance health insurance coverage among students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Despite being in existence for many years, a significant number of eligible students remain uncovered by the program. It is unclear whether the intended users are sufficiently aware of the program’s existence and benefits. Therefore, this study assessed the level of knowledge about the TISHIP program and related factors among students enrolled in selected tertiary institutions in Southwest Nigeria. Using a descriptive cross-sectional study design, 430 students were surveyed using a multi-stage random sampling technique from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria and the Federal College of Agriculture, Ibadan. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire of twenty-one questions using both a 4-point Likert scale questions and other questions not on a Likert scale to comprehensively assess the students’ knowledge and perceptions. Responses to the Likert scale were reversed, so that “Strongly disagree” had a score of “1”, and “Strongly agree” was assigned a score of “4”. Overall, six questions were used to determine the knowledge of TISHIP, and the highest score was therefore “24”. Persons with scores corresponding to the mean value and above (≥12 points) were categorized to have “Good knowledge of TISHIP”, while those with lower score (