Going Bankrupt Over Medical Expenses: Any Protection Under the Nigerian NHIS?

In researching on National Health Insurance, I have come across a growing body of significant research on 'medical bankruptcy' in the United States. In two major studies conducted in 2001 and 2007 (http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0002-9343/PIIS0002934309004045.pdf), Professors Warren Elizabeth, David U. Himmelstein MD, Deborah Thorne, PhD, and Steffie Woolhandler MD, MPH outlined a nexus between medical problems and rising healthcare costs and a significant percentage of bankruptcies in the US.

The Arguments
Universal coverage through a national health insurance scheme can still leave many families exposed to astronomical healthcare costs. According to the authors, "many health insurance policies prove to be too skimpy in the face of serious illness" (http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/reprint/hlthaff.w5.63v1). While there are dissenting views - as it is expected in the world of academia - on the exact impact of medical costs on bankruptcy filers in the US, what is important is that the research establishes that medical costs contribute to the overall incidence of bankruptcy in the US. Nowhere could this be truer than in a new Nigeria that now boasts of a National Health Insurance Scheme.

Implications of the Above Arguments - the Nigerian Situation
The above discussion implies that the existence of a national health insurance scheme - which is by all accounts an excellent initiative - is itself not a buffer against financial distress arising from the costs of medical care. In my work on the Nigerian national health insurance scheme (NHIS) (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1016661), I critique the Scheme's benefit package. While covering common and arguably inexpensive medical conditions, the Scheme (http://www.nhis.gov.ng/) effectively under-insures patients for those chronic, debilitating health conditions which are part of the major problems that plague Nigerian families. While Nigerians don't typically file bankruptcy claims as often as corporations do, yet it is common knowledge that "bankruptcy" whether applied as a legal or basic term is fitting for the experiences of Nigerians afflicted with serious medical problems.

As I highlighted in a previous post on the need to focus on the content of care alongside the form, Nigerian health policymakers can take a look at this and other related scholarship and answer the question that many Nigerians are silently asking: Do we need this FORM of national health insurance?