Among underserved Nigerians, awareness of health insurance remains low, but insurtech offers hope

The man faced with a barrage of criticism from midwives in purple uniforms asked the person on the other end of the line to give his word that he would help find the money.< /p>

The man would later flee after learning of the huge sum he had to pay in addition to the 27,000 naira bail he was trying to find for his wife to be transported for surgery.

Abandoned in the heat and noise in a room off to one side of the hallway, where a row of crowded beds pushed close to the wall blocked two people from suddenly passing through and made the air sticky, the woman said the doctor that she hadn't eaten since the day before. She was later allowed to undergo surgery on compassionate grounds, during which the child was born prematurely. They agreed that the mother and child would not be released until their bills were paid.

When the husband later showed up at the hospital, Orile Agege General Hospital, Lagos, without the money, he was further scolded.

Just a hundred meters away, immediately to the right of the hospital gate at the entrance, some enrolled in the Lagos State Health System, popularly known as Ilera Eko, sat in the shade , awaiting medical attention.

In a country where a gaping knowledge gap masks knowledge of the availability of health insurance plans that meet the needs of low-income people for a majority of them, scenarios like this are common, even when these services are right on the doorstep of the target population.

According to the EFInA Survey on Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020, “lack of awareness and product suitability are the main barriers to formal non-banking financial services”, with 83% of respondents saying they do not be aware of microinsurance.< /p>

Enrolling in a micro-insurance scheme, protecting vulnerable low-income earners against health-related emergencies, job loss, etc., in exchange for affordable periodic premium payments, could save a lot.

Nigeria's public hospitals are unwelcoming at the best of times, with decrepit equipment and facilities, paramedics notorious for treating patients discourteously, and few doctors, many for the lure of jobs more favorable to foreigners, are abandoning medical services en masse. These are sometimes rejections for potential users of microinsurance.

Wole Adeyefa, a doctor at Orile Agege General Hospital, told PREMIUM TIMES that he has received positive testimonials from his patients who use the Ilera Eko health plan, saying it has helped them cover expenses such as treatments and surgeries.

Mr. Adeyefa admitted that most people he had spoken to about the program in the past were hearing for the first time and added that the government had done little to raise awareness, which he said could be done by using social media and health care. workers at primary health care facilities across the state.

“The package is supposed to cover more than it currently covers. By the time people arrive at the hospital, they believe that everything is supposed to be free. Ilera Eko should go beyond the boundaries of government facilities” , he said.

Olasumbo Okunlola, one of 15 patients enrolled in the program, paid 13,000 naira to undergo a C-section which usually costs 10 times more the last time she had her baby, an experience she described of "great relief". This did not cover the costs of medications and injections.

"I signed up for this standard package, including my family, but right now I'm the only one who gets it," said Ms. Okunlola who told PREMIUM TIMES that she had heard of the program by his sister last year and later. on the radio.

She identified the fact that she is only allowed to use one hospital at the moment as a draw...