By Benson Ezugwu
Calabar – The Cross River Health Insurance Agency is to register one million people under its health insurance programme before the end of 2020.
Mr Godwin Iyala, the Director-General of the agency, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on Thursday in Calabar, adding that Gov. Ben Ayade would flag off the enrollment for the scheme on April 7.
“Our target is to capture one million residents of Cross River State by the end of 2020 and by 2022, more than four million residents will be enrolled into the scheme,’’ he said.
He said since the state health insurance bill was signed into law in 2016, machinery had been put in motion to ensure the successful take off of the scheme.
According to him, the state insurance scheme is designed to provide easy access to better healthcare delivery to the citizens of the state.
He stated that the Primary Health Care (PHC) centers located in various political wards of the state would serve as points of access for the enrollees.
“It is designed to bring down to the citizens quality and affordable healthcare and to achieve the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) which is one of the cardinal requirements in United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.
“The governor is determined to see it succeed in this his second tenure and to be part of his legacy to the people of the state,’’ he said.
The director-general said that each enrollee was expected to pay N1000 monthly as premium amounting to N12, 000 yearly.
Iyala added that the scheme was compulsory for all residents of the state, including those who were already enrollees of the National Health Insurance Scheme.
“The agency has been interfacing and interacting with relevant stakeholders in the project, including traditional institutions, market women, organised labour and the civil society to sensitise the people to the benefits of the programme,’’ he said.
He said that the agency would collaborate with various partners both nationally and internationally to ensure that the citizens got the deserved services when operational.
(NAN)