The Ogun Government on Thursday said it has adopted the informal sector health insurance scheme to ensure residents have access to affordable quality healthcare services.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, made this known at the Pre-Launch news conference on the informal sector health insurance scheme in Abeokuta
Coker explained that the initiative was to ensure universal qualitative and affordable healthcare services to all citizens, particularly the underprivileged and vulnerable.
She noted that the cost of healthcare delivery is consistently increasing globally due to continuous advancement in health services, research, newer drugs, effect of inflation and population size.
She noted that such challenges may not allow government to sustain free health services to all citizens.
She said with the introduction of such insurance health scheme the challenges citizens experience on increased healthcare cost would be addressed in the state.
She disclosed that the state is aligning with the global agenda of pursuing the goal of Universal Health Coverage by 2025, thus established the Ogun State Health Insurance Scheme (OGSHIS).
She added that the establishment of the scheme would ensure that people, regardless of their background and socio-economic status, would access to quality healthcare services and not suffer financial hardship paying for their bills.
“There are different schemes available; however in order to ensure that we start sure-footed.
“We plan to start with the informal sector health insurance scheme, whereby innovative initiative will be employed to ensure every person in this sector is covered with health insurance.
“Our targeted group for the scheme includes transport unions: NURTW, RTEAN, ACCCOMORAN, AMORAN, Market traders, Artisan unions, farmers association, CDCs/ACDCs/CDAs, traditional rulers, religious leaders.
“The informal sector health insurance scheme is also geared towards taking care of vulnerable groups in the state.
“These groups consists of residents of Ogun state who cannot pay for themselves but their premium shall be covered by subsidies from government, donations and grants from donor agencies.
“The vulnerable groups includes pregnant women, children under five, elderly people living with sickle cell disease, physically and mentally challenged and prison inmates,” she said.
The commissioner said access to basic healthcare would be done through the public and private facilities offering primary healthcare services, adding that the facilities will serve as gateways into the scheme.
She also added that an identification card would be given to members who had registered, which would be used as a means of identification at the point care.
She further explained that basic benefit package shall cut across both preventive and curative healthcare service, taking into cognisance the local morbidity and mortality profile, which includes pre- and post-natal care as well as normal delivery.
The commissioner noted that the premiums which are the members’ financial contribution to the scheme would be “quite flexible”.
“The premium financial contribution would be a monthly basis at a cost of N1000 per individual while N4000 per month for a family of 6, which will include the father and mother and not more than four biological children under the age of 18.
“This scheme will be accessible from both public and private primary healthcare facilities,” said Coker.
She however urged prospective clients to start registering for the scheme at different locations through the OGSHIA Website, Primary Healthcare Centres in their communities across the 20 local government areas.
The commissioner also called for more collaboration of corporate entities to adopt community members as their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by taking on the financial responsibility of health insurance annual premium payment of specified numbers of vulnerable in the state.
