Delta Leads in Health Insurance with Over Two Million Enrollees, Says Akpoveta

*Pays over N100m monthly for over 300 CS births  

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

The Director-General of the Delta State Contributory Health Commission (DSCHC), Dr. Isaac Akpoveta, has said the state has evolved into Nigeria’s foremost health insurance service provider with over two million enrollees.

He added that the state government currently subsidises more than 300 Caesarian operations monthly across 550 registered facilities in the state under the scheme.

Akpoveta, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the commission, disclosed this when members of the Asaba Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) visited the commission in Asaba, at the weekend.

 Akpoveta said the state emerged as number-one in contributory health insurance in the country with the current figure of over two million enrollees across the 25 local government areas of the state. “Delta State is number-one by every parameter of health insurance in the country,” he observed.

According to him, the state government particularly subsidises the healthcare of pregnant women and under-five children at a cost running into millions of naira.

“If you do Cesarean section in a private hospital, you could pay as much as between N300,000 to N500,000; then do a little arithmetic by multiplying that amount by 300 for every month,” Akpoveta said.

He noted that these services were some of the silent by outstanding efforts of the Delta State Government but which were hardly noticed or acknowledged, adding that only the media as an agent of development could highlight them towards the promotion of the contributory health insurance in the country.

He, however, said it was gratifying to note that the commission was signed into law in 2016 under the administration of Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, when the incumbent, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori was a member of the Delta State House of Assembly, noting that the current government was consolidating the achievements of the previous in the health sector.

Against the backdrop of inflationary trends in the country, it was better left to imagination how very high the cost of health or medical services would have been today, saying that “the Oborevwori administration believes in taking care of its people,” Akpoveta said.

According to him, the commission has enrolled over 35 percent of the people in Delta State into the scheme since the commission started seeing patients in January 2017.

The DSCHC director-general said, “I can tell you that we cover the bills of over 300 Cesarean sections monthly at a cost of over N500,000 each but it has been a silent activity of the government that people are not aware of. Asaba Specialist Hospital (ASH) alone covers over 60 to 70 Caesarian sections monthly.

“The DSCHC scheme, by law, has various plans; the Equity Plan is for the vulnerable, the Formal Plan is for the Civil Servants and the organised private sector, while the Informal Plan is for the artisans in.”

He said that the commission was primarily set up to finance the health sector, adding that with N7,000 premium an enrollee would have access to healthcare in any facility in the state and designated facilities outside the state for one year.

“The commission is set up to cover the residents of Delta from financial constraints. Today, many have been pulled into poverty because of health bills.

“People sell land and property to pay health bills and to secure their health, so health insurance is to prevent financial disaster and to protect the individual from financial constraints.

“The law establishing the scheme is to cover all residents of Delta State irrespective of tribe, language or colour, religion or culture, but all that live in the state should be covered.

“Especially, the state is determined to protect the vulnerable people, particularly pregnant women and children under five years and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

“I am glad that you mentioned that the yearly premium of N7,000 for the health insurance is small compared to the huge cost of accessing medical care but this is possible because the government has been subsidising, augmenting the medical bills of the over two million subscribers to the scheme.

“In 2016, when we did the accrual determination of how much should cover an individual healthcare in a year, it was put at about N18, 000 per enrollee.” 

He, however, called on other well meaning people of the state to support the scheme by enrolling indigent members of the community into the scheme.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Chapel, Comrade Ifeanyi Olannye, commended the state government for its bid to provide quality healthcare at a considerably low cost for residents of the state.

With the current economic realities of today, a fee of N7,000 as annual premium for medical services remains an economic rent (gain) for the enrollee

While congratulating Akpoveta “for a well-deserved appointment, he appreciated his passion for the job, particularly the inclusion of students of the state-owned tertiary institutions into the scheme.

“It is heartwarming that you personally sponsored and enrolled 1,000 indigent persons on remote communities and other persons with disabilities  into the scheme from across the state.”

Highpoint of the visit was the DSCHC facility tour by the journalists, conducted by Dr. Isaac Akpoveta to showcase the automated system provided by the state government to ensure effective healthcare delivery in the state with real-time vetting, assessment and monitoring of the enrollees as well as the health facilities.