The Cross River State Government has begun compulsory enrollment of workers in the formal sector into its health insurance scheme, christened “Ayadecare”.
The enrollment is in furtherance of the National Health Insurance Scheme’s (NHIS) mandate of providing affordable and quality healthcare to civil/public servants across the state.
In a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) Office of the Cross River State Head of Service (HOS), Mrs Achiane Adams, yesterday, said the staff members were expected to visit the enrollment centres with one recent passport photograph including the National Identity Number (NIN) slip and one Pay slip for the enrollment.
Adams said“The enrolment which is mandatory is in fulfillment of the law which provides legal backing to the scheme. The registration centres are the office of HOS, all local government areas headquarters, all primary health care centres across the 18 LGAs and the office of the Cross River Health Insurance Agency,”
In an interview with news men, the Director-General of “Ayadecare”, Mr Godwin Iyala, said the scheme started in 2021 with the enrollment of the most vulnerable in the 18 LGAs of the state.
Iyala said with the payment of N1,000 per month, enrollees have access to healthcare which would cover a wide range of basic ailments including tuberculosis and the provision of drugs.
“Although we are commencing the package for those in the formal sector today, the scheme is for all residents of Cross River State.
“If you want to subscribe with us you can come with your family which include father, mother and four children of not more than 18 years of age.
“You can take up a yearly package of up to N64,000 which gives you a discount of one person if you divide it by the number of persons involved,” he said.
Iyala added that the scheme was designed to outlive any particular administration because it is not personalised as it was established by a law in the State House of Assembly and is supervised by the NHIS.
Meanwhile, a large number of residents of Cross River State have pleaded with the administration to give maximum enlightenment to the initiative as many claimed ignorance of the scheme.