The Ekiti State Health Insurance Scheme, EKHIS, has announced that over half a million residents have enrolled in the state’s health insurance scheme.
Director of Programmes at EKHIS, Mls. Ogundero Oluwabunmi made the disclosure on Tuesday during the interactive S’etigbo multicast powered by the Ekiti State Bureau of Community Communications.
Oluwabunmi said that the state has marked a major progress in quality healthcare services since the establishment of the scheme in 2022 through accessible healthcare from primary to tertiary facilities.
He reiterated the commitment of the agency to ensure that beneficiaries receive the much-needed free medical care provided by the government of Biodun Oyebanji while urging them to utilize the opportunity for their overall well-being.
His words: “We had few numbers of pregnant women and children U-5 that benefited from the program around 2022. The numbers of facilities that we accredited then were very few compared to one facility per ward. In the state, we have 177 wards which is translated to 177 facilities. They can access quality healthcare wherever they are under this scheme that has been a huge success.
“Close to a million lives in Ekiti State across the 177 facilities in the 16 local governments are accessing the care compared to 3000 beneficiaries four years ago. We have the Basic Health Provision Fund and Ulera Wa. Apart from the fact that you are enrolled – either pre-enrollment or post-enrollment, we don’t always leave the beneficiaries without knowing what is happening.
“The agency always take a bold step to verify because we have their bio-data. We get feedback from the beneficiaries and from there we know where the gaps are. If we found out that there is a gap at the primary facility, we will quickly fill the gap.
“This program is structured from the primary healthcare centres which is the point of entry for primary care alone. If the service is not primary, they will refer you to the secondary facility and subsequently the tertiary facility. All the services are free from the primary facility to tertiary facility.
“We want the people to go to the facilities that have been accredited because it’s their right. They should go to the facility and enjoy the quality health service that the government of the state already paid for. If they get to any of the facilities across the 16 LGAs and meet what they did not expect, we are always available at EKHIS to take action.”
In the same vein, Executive Director of O.A Initiative, Ayomide Olanipekun said that her organization partnered with EKHIS to ensure that sickle cell warriors in the state access the scheme. She noted that no fewer than 1000 sickle cell warriors have benefited from the quality healthcare services since they entered the partnership in 2023 adding that it has helped to cushion the financial implications.
According to her, “I started noticing their health challenges when I became a medical doctor during my internship at the Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti. I found out that a lot of sickle cell warriors do not come to the healthcare facilities due to financial issues.
“Because of the information I had, with my team members, we paid a courtesy visit to the EKHIS in 2023. We got a partnership with them and they offered free medical care to all the sickle cell warriors in Ekiti State. They told us that we can enroll as many as possible that we can find.
“They have been doing that since 2023. We have had almost 1000 of them on our database. This health insurance has helped them to really focus on their lives and not to worry about the financial implications of going to the hospital. It’s not only about healthcare but about the quality healthcare they will gain from the primary health centre down to the tertiary health centre.”
Some of the sickle cell warriors, who benefited from the scheme commended the state government for providing free and quality healthcare services to residents of the state, particularly sickle cell warriors.
