By Sarafa Ibrahim
A family man of four was soliloquizing recently about the options available to him and his family on managing their health.
And, out of nowhere, he asked a curious yet, insightful question– why do we (him and his family) need a health coverage? Hearing him, I paused a bit, and in between, sensed the uncertainty that triggered his question.
And he is not alone with such feeling. True, a lot of people are familiar with health coverage, but they are still not convinced on why they should enroll. Before delving into the process of healthcare coverage enrollment, it is crucial to understand what healthcare coverage entails and why it is an integral part to managing your health and family members.
Healthcare coverage, often referred to as health insurance, is a contract between you and an insurance provider, in which you agree to pay premiums, and in return, the insurer covers a portion of your healthcare expenses.
In Osun, for instance, the Osun Health Insurance Scheme (OHIS) was established in 2018 to serve as a bridge between individuals seeking healthcare services and the providers who offer them.
To be clear, the OHIS stand in the gap for enrolled individuals in accessing care by covering a significant portion of medical expenses, thereby, reducing the financial burden on subscribers. With the OHIS healthcare coverage, you can choose from a more extensive network of healthcare facilities, whether publicly or privately owned, ensuring they you receive the care you need and when you need it.
Nowadays, people encounter one ailment or the other that requires immediate and comprehensive treatment to combat.
With the OHIS plan, you have the option of receiving the best available healthcare without worrying about the exorbitant cost of treatments. If, for instance, you incurred N80,000 cost for typhoid fever treatment, you will only be required to pay 10% of that cost, which is N8,000 while the OHIS handle the balance. Without the OHIS plan, your options may be limited, and accessing necessary care could become a challenging ordeal.
The good thing about the OHIS coverage is that it can cover family members as well. Consider your ageing parents or dependant children, who are likely to be vulnerable to illness. Funding their healthcare needs can be financially draining and stressful if anything happens to them.
However, OHIS coverage make all the worries go away because not only will it handle the significant portion of the cost for their healthcare but also ensure that they get the best of care.
Beyond this, the OHIS coverage link subscribers to a regular source of care, giving them access to a network of providers who can deliver comprehensive and coordinated healthcare services. As you are subscribing, you are open to the choice of deciding the provider that best serves your healthcare needs. With this, you have total control on your healthcare.
Ultimately, people can live longer and healthier lives because of access to ongoing care. In fact, the OHIS coverage covers pre–existing conditions. This means that if you have been diagnosed for an ailment before you enroll, you will still be able to enjoy the healthcare benefits that comes with your plan.
At the same time, the OHIS coverage provides guarantees that you will have ready access to comprehensive healthcare, eliminating fears that usually arises from the cost of managing ailments or fighting diseases. This is because the OHIS coverage share the significant burden of your medical expenses, pre and post hospitalisation costs, and will not compromise on the quality of service received.
But that is not all. The OHIS coverage extends to the cost of drugs, making sure that people can have access to prescribed drugs at an affordable rate. The galloping inflation in Nigeria has skyrocketed the price of essential drugs, leaving a lot of people who needed them for survival stranded and helpless. But this won’t be a problem with the OHIS coverage because just like your medical bill, it will share the significant portion of the cost of your medication.
If, for example, the cost of your prescribed drug is N45,000, all that you will be required to pay is 10% of that cost, which is N4,500 if you’re on the OHIS coverage plan. Imagine the financial exposure without the OHIS coverage, a situation that has taken required medication out of the reach of many people and causing devastating impact on their health.
The long and short of it is that, the OHIS is your trusted partner on healthcare. Without the OHIS coverage, individuals may delay or avoid seeking necessary medical care due to concerns about the cost. This delay can lead to the progression of diseases, more treatment, and increased medical expenses in the long run.
And all that is required to unlock the immense benefits that the OHIS offers is to pick up a subscription by visiting any of its offices across Osun state or its headquarters in the State Secretariat, Osogbo. The subscription is structured to accommodate all social classes of the people all in a bid to ensure that no one is left.
As an individual, you can enjoy the benefit of a qualitative healthcare service for a whole year at the sum of N12,066. Yes, you are not mistaken, with N12,066, you can enjoy an all-year-round healthcare service through the OHIS.
With N57,600, a family of six can get the benefit of good healthcare for a whole year on the family package. This means that the father, mother, and four biological children or legally adopted under the age of 18 years will be covered by the OHIS plan for one year that the subscription will last. Isn’t that incredible?
What the above simply pointed out is that, while maintaining your health could be costly, the OHIS is offering to share in the burden just to ensure you stay healthy. As an enrollee, you will no longer have to worry about how to handle the bill for your health needs or any of your family members included as a beneficiary for basic ailment, because the OHIS got you covered.
-Ibrahim writes from Osogbo.
