Akwa-Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno
Akwa Ibom Health Insurance scheme has continued to expand its services with the commencement of the formal sector enrolment for senior civil servants and members of the Organised Private sector.
The scheme which began in 2023 and launched on September 20th last year saw the enrolment of all junior civil servants paid for by Governor Umo Eno.
The junior workers in the state public service now have access to free quality healthcare courtesy of the Executive Governor of the State.
The Agency commenced providing access to healthcare in October last year with the vulnerable group supported by the Federal Government through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund and voluntary donations.
The formal sector enrolment followed the deductions made in their salary, a development that has generated mixed reactions from the senior civil servants whose contributions to the scheme are “earning related and currently is 15 percent of basic salary or five percent of the consolidated salary.”
Under the scheme, the employer pays 10 percent of basic salary or 3.5 (consolidated salary) while the employee only contributes 5 percent of basic or 1.5 percent (consolidated salary) to enjoy healthcare benefits.
An investigation shows that the deductions have resulted in a large turnout of senior civil servants who have trooped out to the agency’s office for enrolment and is expected to bring the total number of enrollees to 158,000, up from the current figure of 138,000 enrollees.
In an interview, a medical doctor and the agency’s Executive Secretary, Igbemi Arthur, said the scheme has witnessed an impressive turnout of senior civil servants since the deductions began adding that members of the formal sector might have felt left out of the scheme which has explained the large turnout.
According to him, a contributor/employee and his/her dependents will be issued identity cards with personal identification numbers adding that in the event of sickness, the contributor/employee presents his/her identity card to his/her chosen primary healthcare provider for treatment.
He explained that the contributor will be able to access care after waiting for a period of 30 days except for the vulnerable group which is immediately after payment of capitation to enable the scheme to complete all administrative processes.
“We started in phases, first with the vulnerable group, now the formal sector programme for the public servants has commenced in earnest with the junior civil servant while deductions for senior civil servants is ongoing with a view to providing access to care for that subpopulation shortly.
The agency
has also launched the self-enrolment portal for the informal sector to boost enrollment into the Informal Sector Programme”, adding that it would enable individuals to register for the scheme from the comfort of their homes
Igbemi, who is also a Permanent Secretary in the state civil service said those who missed out in the routine enrolment exercise carried out by the agency have responded positively to the formal sector enrolment scheme.
He lauded Governor Umo Eno, for the launch of the scheme as part of the Arisecare which he said has expanded access to healthcare and made it affordable to many residents of the state.
