Established by State of Osun Health Insurance Law of 2018 to provide qualitative and affordable healthcare for citizens, the Osun Health Insurance Scheme (OHIS) emerged to bail the teeming residents of the State from out-of-pocket expenses in accessing good and quality health services.
The Executive Chairman of the Scheme since 2018, Hon. Adeoye Adelakun, a former Osun House of Assembly member from Osogbo State Constituency, in this special interview with the duo of Bukola Aderibigbe and Moshood Suleiman of Osunnewsroom.com, explained in details plans and strategies adopted and still being adopted by the Oyetola-led administration to make sure the vulnerable and non vulnerable population of the over four million are not left out of OHIS largesse. He also shed lights on the attitude of people towards the scheme as well as the present position of Osun State in the area of health insurance scheme. Excerpts:
*Osun Newsroom:
The journey culminating into the birth of OHIS in 2018 can be described as one borne out of the need to cushion out-of-pocket expenses especially in accessing quality health by the residents of Osun. So far, since 2018, how would you assess the journey?
Hon. Adelakun:
To God be the glory. The journey has been smooth and eventful. We have had no cause to look back at all. Even if we had to, it was with relish and satisfaction because the corporate objectives of the Scheme are being achieved daily, weekly, monthly and annually, and
enhanced beyond where we started, just like yesterday in 2018. This cheering news might not be far from the passion of Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, governor of Osun State, to the growth and development of health sector. Governor Oyetola, since he came on board three years ago, has never for once shied away from making health one of the cardinal objectives of his administration. With this, Osun has a rising reputation of having one of the leading health
insurance Agencies in the federation. We are proud of this and it has kept us afloat and fulfilled all the time.
Osun Newsroom:
Perhaps we should internalize the journey this way: are you saying as long as one lives in Osun, the largesse accruing from OHIS are open to all and sundry, whether one is registered or not with the Agency?
Hon. Adelakun:
No. One must be fully registered to be able to have an uninterrupted access to the largesse. To put it simply and mildly, what today is known as OHIS in Osun is purely mandatory and to a large extent has element of compulsion on all residents of the state.
Osun Newsroom:
How do you mean sir?
Hon. Adelakun:
For the benefit of hindsight, let me put it this way. The Schemes takes care of four broad categories of people which we christened the formal, informal, vulnerable and the not-too-vulnerable, where we also have the students population.
Osun Newsroom:
Now that we have identified the four categories. Let’s take a look at them one after the other starting with the formal sector where we have the civil servants of Osun as enrollees
Hon. Adelakun:
For you to partake in the largesse as a civil servant under the formal sector of OHIS, 1.5% of your salary is being deducted on a monthly basis, while the state government of Osun makes a magnanimous remittance of 3% for each civil servant enrollee of OHIS. This serves as premium for such worker until his/her retirement from active service. With this package, you can enjoy a lot of health benefits while paying less.
Osun Newsroom:
So it is a total package where all ailments are attended to for free?
Hon. Adelakun:
No. We do not cover all ailments. For instance, cancer is out of our coverage area in OHIS. However all other basic health matters like minor surgeries, eye care, dental care and management of complicated diseases like hypertension, diabetes and asthma, among others, fall under OHIS area of coverage. With just N 12,066 for an individual or N 57,600 for a family of six, you are free to go to any of the hospitals of your choice in Osun for one good year. Isn’t this magnanimity on the part of the government? Here in Osun, we have gamut of health care activities for people under this scheme the moment you have been fully registered.
Osun Newsroom:
For the informal sector…
Hon. Adelakun:
(Cuts in)
Yes, for the informal sector, it is mutually beneficial too in the sense that the sum of just N 22,066 is charged for an individual, while package for a family of six people comprising father, mother and four children, pays a fee of just N 57,600 for a whole year. Can you now see how cheap and affordable it is? However, I must emphasise that the OHIS card which guarantees your accessibility to all these largesse ceases to be tenable a year after registration with OHIS.
Osun Newsroom:
For instance, if a man has more than one wife and he belongs to the informal sector, what becomes the fate of others since the scheme has a limited number of people to cater for?
Hon. Adelakun:
It is a very simple matter. All that is required is only one legally married wife with four children. Those are people who qualify as dependants.
Osun Newsroom:
Sustainability of a given program or policy of government is no doubt sometimes a very difficult task. It could be cumbersome and very Herculean. The administration of Mr Adegboyega Oyetola must have put certain indices in place to get this program running smoothly the way it has been in the last couple of years. Can you shed more light on this please?
Hon. Adelakun:
Thank you so much for this beautiful question. One of the success stories of OHIS is because of the fact that it has an enabling law that statutorily made its continued existence a reality, as passed by the State’s House of Assembly, and eventually signed and sealed by Mr Governor himself. In other words, no government can come tomorrow and get it outlawed by the tap of fingers. No! The Scheme has legal backing. It cannot be thrown away at all. Should any government attempt to, it will surely not find it easy and wholesome. Perhaps, I should be emphatic again in stating that the present administrations track record of payment of salaries of its workforce is another selling point for the sustainability of OHIS in Osun. With prompt payment of salaries, there’s no way OHIS will not find a firm footing for its sustainability. With the disposition of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola in regular payment of salaries of workers, this serves as an oil mill for the sustainability of the program.
Osun Newsroom:
In that case, we must give kudos to Mr Governor for making regular payment of salaries one of the cardinal policies of his administration. But you seem to have an element of over reliance on government. Are you saying it is government alone that will continue to do things for you as an Agency? Don’t you have your own plan to get you insulated from looking at the face of government all the time for funding and other things?
Hon. Adelakun:
Thank you so much for that observation or do I say suggestion. While we appreciate the state government of Osun under the leadership of Mr Adegboyega Oyetola for his passion for OHIS program, we are equally not leaving any stone unturned to keep afloat in case of emergencies which could come at anytime. But in OHIS as an Agency of government, we have what I can call reserves in our kitty to get us insulated from emergency situations for at least between four or five months. So, we are not totally over-dependent on government even though on the other hand government is our backbone for the overall objectives of living up to the expectations of our enrollees in this scheme. The cost of running the scheme is enormous and gargantuan. There’s no way government will not be involved. To demonstrate governments commitment to the scheme,the administration of Mr Adegboyega Oyetola within its first year in office doled out the sum of N477 million as take-off grant for the agency in addition to over N477million as equity grant meant for the premium for the poor and the vulnerable.
Osun Newsroom:
How many people have so far shown interest or registered?
Hon. Adelakun:
To the glory of God, without mincing words, over 300,000 residents of Osun have enlisted in OHIS.
Osun Newsroom:
Presently, from this 300,000 enrollees, how many are having access to the health care services under the scheme?
Hon. Adelakun:
Conservatively speaking, as at the last count, we have a total of 195,565 people having uninterrupted access.
Osun Newsroom:
Over the years, people see insurance as a kind of scam officially concocted to get people hoodwinked.
Hon. Adelakun:
Yes, this was the attitude of our people to any insurance scheme from the days of old. We had similar experience when this scheme started in 2018, but with a lot of sensitisation and education of our people which we embarked on, there’s been a great change of attitude as they no longer see the scheme as a scam. We have had a lot of people coming to our office, or anywhere they meet us in town, to testify that our health insurance scheme is real and authentic. As far as Osun is concerned, Oyetola has changed the mantra and orientation of our people about health insurance. At the risk of sounding immodest, it will take extra effort for any state in Nigeria to beat Osun health insurance scheme. Governor Oyetola must be commended for raising the bar of quality health care services in Osun beyond the wildest imagination of some doubting Thomases.
