Published By News Editor
Determined to ensure that residents have access to affordable, quality healthcare and get value for their money, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Thursday, launched three additional health plans for the Lagos State Health Scheme.
Speaking at the launch of the expanded benefits package of ILERA EKO, Sanwo-Olu said the creation of the new range of plans and expansion of the Lagos Health Insurance Scheme was borne out of the need to cover more health challenges, accommodate prevalent medical conditions and address economic realities of residents, especially those in the informal sector.
Represented by the First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. Ibijoke Claudiana Sanwo-Olu, the governor said that this realisation prompted the State Government, in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to conduct actuarial analysis on the existing benefits package.
He disclosed that the results of the study informed the design of an improved standard health benefit plan at no additional cost to the enrollees as well as the development of other health plans to address more health needs of residents.
Pointing out that the expansion has provided a platform for senior citizens in the State and Lagosians in the Diaspora to have the opportunity of accessing the Scheme, the Governor stated that it was designed to ensure that every resident have access to the health care.
He noted that the health insurance expansion also prioritises the welfare of the vulnerable in the State, adding that the Scheme has been prepared to ensure that everyone in Lagos irrespective of their social-economic differences, receives the best and most affordable healthcare services in any of their chosen facilities.
Revealing that his family had also enrolled on ILERA EKO, Sanwo-Olu implored Lagos residents to take advantage of the affordable healthcare plans and get health insurance coverage.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the launch of the new plans by LASHMA is a push for universal advancement of the health sector in the State and urged Lagos residents to use the opportunity to secure their health now rather than waiting until they are sick.
Prof. Abayomi also noted that Lagos State needs a radical transformation of the health sectors and the health insurance scheme is the solution to attain Universal Health Coverage as well as affordable health financing for all.
The General Manager, Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA), Dr. Emmanuella Zamba, said that affordability was a major part of the new health plans, which would be provided for Lagos residents, adding that the good health of residents is the priority of the Agency.
She explained that the rebranding was necessitated by the need to include the informal sector which constitutes about 75 per cent of the population of the State into the health scheme, maintaining that the improved benefits package would afford them the opportunity to have quality healthcare
Dr. Zamba, therefore, called on Lagosians, home and abroad, to enrol on the Scheme without delay as LASHMA is committed to serving them better, noting that with the Diaspora plan, residents in the diaspora can buy health plans for their parents and relatives living in the State.