The Ogun State Government has announced that 70,000 individuals will benefit from free access to healthcare services for one year under its health insurance scheme.
Dr. Afolabi Dosunmu, the Executive Secretary of the Ogun State Health Insurance Agency (OGSHIA), revealed this in an interview with newsmen on Saturday in Abeokuta.
The health insurance
Dosunmu explained that registered patients, in addition to paying their premiums, would have access to the free surgical interventions announced by Governor Dapo Abiodun in January.
Since the beginning of March, over 1000 surgeries have been performed, exceeding the expected average number of patients seeking screening at healthcare facilities.
He noted that while some patients were unable to undergo immediate surgeries, they were referred to another level of care for later intervention due to various reasons, such as pre-existing conditions like high blood pressure or high blood sugar.
Dosunmu emphasized the importance of patients collecting their insurance cards, which guarantee free medical and surgical services for one year.
He lamented that many prospective patients or those referred for surgeries had not collected their cards, urging them to do so to ensure access to healthcare services.
“We now have issues with the insurance card that we enrolled them with; a lot of people are not coming back and we’ve started calling them but they’ve not coming back for those cards.”
“The card guarantees that for the next one year, you get free medical and surgical treatment,” he added.
The state government has allocated N900 million to the state health insurance scheme and the free surgical intervention program, aiming to eliminate out-of-pocket expenses for vulnerable populations and achieve universal health coverage.
