Group, family insurance eyes Nigeria’s 85% informal workforce

Ultimate Health Management Services has unveiled its U-Health GIFSHIP, a group, individual and family social health insurance programme aimed at extending healthcare coverage to Nigeria’s informal sector, which the company said accounts for about 85 per cent of the country’s workforce.

Speaking in Lagos, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Ultimate Health Management Services, Otunba Lekan Ewenla, said the initiative was designed to bridge the gap in health insurance coverage by extending the benefits of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) social health insurance package to informal sector operators and small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).

Ewenla said while the formal sector social health insurance scheme introduced in 2005 had recorded over 11 million enrollees, the majority of Nigerians working in the informal sector remained outside the health insurance net.

“About 85 per cent of Nigerians are in the informal sector. They are running small, medium and large businesses, and they also deserve access to quality healthcare through health insurance,” he said.

According to him, Ultimate Health currently manages about 300,000 enrollees under the NHIA programme and has already begun implementing the GIFSHIP package among informal sector groups, including workers in 43 hotels and several SMEs across the country.

He explained that the programme adopts the same benefit package available to federal civil servants under the NHIA social health insurance scheme.

Ewenla said the company would collaborate with market associations, chambers of commerce, professional bodies and other stakeholder groups to expand enrolment among informal sector operators.

He added that Ultimate Health would deploy technology to improve service delivery through the issuance of both digital and physical identity cards, enabling enrollees to access healthcare services more conveniently.

“We are here to set a new agenda for the expansion and growth of health insurance in Nigeria. What we are selling today is quality care, not just health insurance,” he said.

The managing director said the initiative would also strengthen partnerships with healthcare providers across the country to improve access to quality and affordable healthcare services for enrollees.

UPDATE NEWS:

Nigerians can now invest ₦2.5 million on premium domains and profit about ₦17-₦25 million. All earnings paid in US Dollars. Rather than wonder,

click here to find out how it works.