Kogi Govt officials to pay 80% more to give indigent citizens health insurance- Info Commissioner

TRACKING____Officials of the Kogi State Government have resolved to pay 80% more than their statutory obligations in order to widen the health insurance opportunities to cater for the indigent citizens. The Policy will also cover all civil servants in the State.

This was stated Wednesday by the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Hon. Kingsley Fanwo while briefing newsmen at the end of the State Executive Council Meeting. He said the State Executive Council has ratified the proposal in the interest of those who might not be able to afford the insurance policy.

“The Yahaya Bello Administration is about supporting the poor to be able to access Medicare. The administration has been committed to this since 2016 when we launched an initiative to cater for indigent people who need Medicare. Many people across the State benefitted from the initiative.

“The State Executive Council today had extensive deliberations on the National Health Insurance Scheme. We are one of the very few states that have keyed into the scheme to attract the benefits to our people.

“In line with our democratic inclinations, we are engaging all targeted beneficiaries to let them see the benefits and buy into the scheme to make it a huge success. Public engagement has helped our policy implementation as the people take it off our hands and fly with it.

“But what we are doing that other states are not doing is to make Government Officials pay 80% more than they should pay for their health insurance so that we can spread the advantage to homes that wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford the package”.

Fanwo said the Governor Yahaya Bello Administration has successfully “pushed healthcare to the front seat of government social commitment with the belief that health is truly the bedrock of wealth creation”, assuring the people that Government will continue to “take the right decisions to protect their social interests”.

His words: “They kept asking us why we had no Covid-19 when others around us were declaring figures. But they have not asked us why our border communities are recording deaths as a result of Yello Fever when no one died in Kogi State.

“Where are the news media that falsely claimed people died of strange diseases here? They were sponsored by people who couldn’t fathom the medical miracle in Kogi State. No single person died here because our Health Ministry displayed exceptional capacity to prevent Yellow Fever from ravaging us. We prevent rather than chase an unfortunate situation.

“The nation has a lot to learn from Kogi State Health Management System. We have gone far beyond the expectations of our detractors”, he said.

The Information Commissioner said the Health Insurance Scheme which is in line with the BelloCare Policy in the Health Sector, will further crash the mortality rate of the State, saying the Ministry of Information and Communications will work with its Health counterpart to properly sensitize the people about the Scheme which he said will be flagged off before the end of the year by the Governor.