Kogiflame
The Executive Secretary of Kogi State Health Insurance Agency, Dr. Adekunle Aladare has disclosed that currently , about 32,000 civil servants and 200 political appointees have also been enrolled into on Kogi State Health Insurance Scheme.
Speaking with newsmen in his office on Monday, he further discosed that the formal sector plan is a family package which means that a civil servants or political appointees under this plan can enroll him or her self and other five dependants under them.
According to him, with #15,000 paid per person which is renewable every year, the person can benefit a lot from the agency in the area of quality healthcare services.
“The agency has onboarded 32,000 civil servants and they have started benefiting since the month of March, 2024. We have distributed identity cards to them and we have sent the list of enrollees to all the hospital where they can access healthcare.
“The agency has accredited over 80 health facilities where people can go to access quality healthcare which is scattered across the 21 local government areas of the state.
“Also if the enrollee is a female she can enroll her husband and the male civil servant can enroll his wife and four biological children less than 18 years of age and as the children clock 18 years they can no longer benefit from the programme base on the operational guideline of the agency.
“The agency also has another plan for people above 18 years known as Vital Health Insurance Plan. This plan is for families that are not working in the formal sector but they are into businesses or informal sector such as market women, artisans among others.
“The people under this category can also take the advantage of the health insurance to benefit for low cost of accessing quality healthcare because these day due to the removal of fuel subsidy the cost of medical care has increased.
He also pointed out that the agency has the ability to negotiate low cost of treatment in the hospital because the agency has large numbers of beneficiaries and the hospitals too have a way of subsidizing and reducing the cost of treatment, but when you go to the hospital as an individual you will be paying out of pocket and the hospital will charged you the normal rate , but when it the health insurance that take the person to the hospital the cost of treatment and issuance of drugs reduced.
His words, “Any enrollee that visit the hospital can see the doctor , collect cards, do laboratory tests even surgical operation without paying kobo, but when you now go to the pharmacy section of the hospital , any drugs giving to you, you can now pay 10 percent of the money.
“This is the significant of the health insurance scheme established by the former governor of the state Alhaji Yahaya Bello to ease the suffering of kogi people in the area of spending huge sum of money to access quality healthcare.
“Former Governor Bello is the first governor to establish health insurance in Kogi state and the agency is living to its expectations.
The current governor of the state Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo has launched the formal sector scheme for Kogi workers and he has therefore consolidated on what the former governor has done in the area of health to bring the dividend of democracy to the people.
“It will also interest you to know that the state government in its magnanimity had paid three months (March, April and May) for workers meaning there will be no deduction from any worker’s salary for that three months in the name of health insurance. Every civil servants are expected to pay 1.75 % of their basic salary to the scheme while state government also paid its counterpart contributions of 5% per civil servant to the scheme.
“So as from June, 2024 the deduction of 1.75 % from civil servants salary will commence while the March, April and May remained free for the civil servants as the state government had paid for them which shows how committed the government is toward the welfare of its workers .
“The second plan is the informal sector plan where individual in the sector are expected to pay #15,000 per annum through Vital Health Insurance Plan. We are into massive sensitization to enlightened people about the scheme and the need for them to take the advantage of the insurance plan to better their health.
“The agency also have Vulnerable Group Plan for the people that are vulnerable and can not even afford the cost of obtaining card in the hospital. This group the state government will be paying #15,000 each to each beneficiary across the 21 local government areas of the state.
“The government will provide the fund and the agency enroll such category of people in the state. The federal government every years send money to us to cover the vulnerable people in all the 239 wards of the state.
