The willingness-to-pay (WTP) for private voluntary health insurance (PVHI) was elicited from a random sample of respondents in southeast Nigeria. Most respondents were willing to enroll and pay for PVHI. The mean monthly WTP of respondents for their premium was 396 Naira ($3.3), whilst the mean monthly WTP of respondents for other household members was 261 Naira ($2.2) per household member. Rural dwellers and worse-off socio-economic status (SES) groups stated smaller WTP than urbanites and better-off SES groups. PVHI is a promising strategy for health financing in southeast Nigeria but unsubsidized PVHI will never cover everybody.