Across the developing world, access to affordable healthcare remains a huge challenge, even as different countries have devised different means to address the lingering challenges.
With a growing population and insufficient medical facilities, Nigeria still grapples with providing adequate healthcare to its citizens.
This reality and the commitment to engender a new system for health service delivery inspired the Edo State Government led by Governor Godwin Obaseki to enact the Edo State Health Insurance Law in 2019.
The overarching mission was to provide Edo people the opportunity to make monthly contributions to enjoy a decent health insurance package.
With this, market women, students, artisans, traders, civil servants, among others, are able to access medical services without necessarily having to make out-of-pocket payments.
Meet Maureen Nwine, a civil servant who was called to be captured at the scheme’s office at Block D, Secretariat Building, Sapele Road.
According to her, the capturing was seamless because the commission already had her information.
After the capturing, she was assigned to a health care provider which is close to the area she lives in.
The hospital reached out to her and wanted her to come in, so that they could create her medical history and that was when the Nigerian in her took over, Maureen didn’t meet with her health care provider.
In August 2021, Maureen was feeling under the weather and started self-medicating, until she collapsed and was rushed to her health care provider by her husband, tests were done and treatment started immediately.
It was so bad that even her baby was admitted because she fell sick. When she got better and the bill was brought she couldn’t believe her eyes. The bill was two thousand naira (N2000), after paying; she had to sit a while in the hospital reception area to observe the hospital accountant to see if any issue would come up concerning her payment.
After waiting a while and no one cried wolf she left. If only you could see the smile on the face of Maureen Nwine while she was telling this story, you would know that Obaseki has done well because in the past, and as has been the experience of many, one would need to make deposits and a substantial payment before they can access medical care in hospitals.
Oftentimes, the inability to make a reasonable deposit could lead to the death of a patient.
But with the health insurance scheme, more people would now have access to medical services, with the hospitals having enough capital base that guarantees their continued operations and provision of essential services to patients.
By Uyiosa Efionayi
