Signing up to a microinsurance plan could save many vulnerable and low-income earners, but they are mostly unaware of the programmes.
The man facing a barrage of criticisms from purple-uniformed midwives had the person on the other end of the phone line give his word that he would help find the money.
The man would later abscond after he was told the huge amount he needed to pay besides the deposit of N27,000 he was trying to source for his wife to be wheeled to surgery.
Abandoned to heat and noise in a ward on one side of the hallway, where a line of crowded gatch beds pushed close to the wall made it impossible for two people to pass at a go and made the air sticky, the wife told the doctor she had not eaten since the previous day. She was later allowed to undergo a surgical procedure on compassionate grounds, in which the child was prematurely delivered. They agreed the mother and child would only be discharged once their bills were settled.
When the husband showed up later at the hospital, Orile Agege General Hospital Lagos, without the cash, he got more tongue-lashing.
Barely a hundred metres away, to the immediate right of the hospital gate upon entry, some enrollees to the Lagos State Health Scheme popularly called Ilera Eko, sat in a shade, awaiting medical attention.
In a country where a yawning knowledge gap conceals awareness of availability of health insurance plans catering to the needs of low-income earners from a majority of them, scenarios like this are common even where such services are right on the doorstep of the target population.
According to EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Survey, “lack of awareness and suitability of products are main barriers to non-bank formal financial services,” with 83 per cent of respondents saying they were not aware of microinsurance.
Signing up to a microinsurance plan, the protection of vulnerable, low-income earners from emergencies related to health, job loss and the likes in exchange for affordable periodic premium payments, could save many.
Nigeria’s public hospitals are uninviting at the best of times, with decrepit equipment and facilities, paramedics notorious for treating patients discourteously, and few doctors, many of whom, for the lure of more favourable jobs abroad, are deserting medical service in droves. These are sometimes putt-offs for potential microinsurance users.
Wole Adeyefa, a medical doctor at Orile Agege General Hospital, told PREMIUM TIMES he has been receiving positive testimonials from his patients who use the Ilera Eko health plan, saying it has helped them cover expenses like treatment and surgical procedures.
Mr Adeyefa admitted that most of the people he spoke to about the scheme in the past were hearing for the first time and added that the government has not done much in creating awareness, which he feels could be done using social media and healthcare workers in primary health care facilities across the state.
“The package is supposed to cover more than it’s actually covering now. By the time people get to the hospital, they believe everything is supposed to be free. Ilera Eko should go beyond the border of government facilities,” he said.
source: premiumtimesng
