Ekiti Assembly Speaker seeks more enlightenment on NHIS

Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Kola Oluwawole, has called for more enlightenment on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He said the people, particularly in the grassroots, misconstrue the scheme as another avenue by the government to further inflict pains on them.
Oluwawole made the call while receiving a delegation of the scheme, led by its Regional Coordinator (South-West), Mrs Olajoke Balogun.
Media aide to the speaker, Stephen Gbadamosi, in a statement quoted him as promising to give “speedy attention” to any bill aimed at creating the agency in the state.
The statement said: “The current government in the state is not taking the issue of health with levity.”
He said the bulk of the constituents besieging offices of the lawmakers daily are seeking financial assistance on one health issue or the other,  adding that introduction of the scheme would lessen their burden.
“This NHIS scheme is good, particularly for the poor in the rural areas. But I believe that there is still need for more enlightenment. So many people don’t understand it. They think it is another way of taxing them. The current government in Ekiti State is not handling health with levity. It is one of the cardinal programmes of the government. To that extent, the wife of the governor goes round hospitals to look for indigent patients who cannot pay their bills. Some people have recuperated but would not be discharged for lack of fund to settle bills. We believe that our collaboration with NHIS will remove some of the burdens placed on our government functionaries over the health of residents,” he said.
Earlier, Balogun said they were at the Assembly because of its crucial role in the realisation of the scheme’s dream. She noted that though the scheme was launched in 2005 at the federal level, a lot needs to be done for it to get to the state and local government level.
“It would be good for states to key into the scheme. In the rural areas, community-based ones could be established too. Many Nigerians are not covered and the government wants all citizens to have access to good health care”, she said.