One of the services provided by the CBN is facilitating the purchase of foreign exchange for paying Foreign Medical Bills through Form A.
Form A enables Nigerians to buy dollars, euros, or Pounds among others for applicants to attend to their healthcare needs in a hospital outside the shore of Nigeria.
Here are the requirements for foreign medical bill application:
1) You must fill Form A application form appropriately and correctly
2) You can only buy USD15,000 or its equivalent at a time or per quarter (once in three months)
3) You must possess a valid Nigerian International Passport
4) You must have a valid Visa and flight ticket
5) You must submit the biodata page of your passport at the Foreign Exchange Teller Points of your bank
6) Letter from Nigerian government-approved hospital (must government hospital)
7) Letter of recommendation from the host foreign hospital
8) You must be the account holder of the bank where applying for Form A medical bills
9) Enough funds in the account number that will be debited
10) Finally, written instructions to the bank to debit your account
Medical tourism among Nigeria elites
Our checks show that the political elites seek foreign medical treatment.
Interestingly, data show that some residents in the United States of America prefer to travel to another country for medical treatment because the cost of healthcare in the U.S. is higher than it is in a foreign country.
The US International Trade Commission (USITC), in a 2015 report quoted by insider.com stated that between 150,000 and 320,000 Americans travel abroad each year to receive healthcare.
According to them, they save more, when they seek medical attention abroad.
While the Americans’ reason for medicals abroad is to save cost, Nigerians including the President, state governors, senators, and other political heavyweights and elites travel to the United Kingdom, the U.S, Germany, India, Italy, UAE, and Canada among others for medical tourism because of the dilapidated hospitals in Nigeria.
How much do Nigerians spend on Medical Tourism?
March 2021 Guardian.ng report which quoted the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), stated that about N576 billion ($1.2 billion) is spent on medical tourism per year in Nigeria.
Another report by Price Waterhouse Coopers in 2016 revealed that wealthy Nigerians spend $1 billion annually on medical tourism.
They travel abroad for key four specialities like oncology, orthopaedics, nephrology and cardiology.
How many Nigerians travel abroad for medicals?
The report further revealed that almost 5,000 Nigerians sought foreign medical attention before the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
The above figure shows that medical tourism in Nigeria is a serious business, as such, the need to provide forex for those who have the financial capacity to foot healthcare.