The Director General of the Delta State Contributory Health Commission, Dr. Isaac Akpoveta, said the main motive and concept for the health insurance scheme is aimed at making healthcare services available and affordable for everyone in the state by financing high efficiency in its delivery.
He also said over 1.8 million Deltans have successfully enrolled in the scheme which makes it the highest in the country.
Dr. Akpoveta said this when the leadership of the Association of the Resident Doctors, Asaba branch led by Dr. Okolie Innocent visited the office of the commission in the state capital on Friday.
According to Dr. Akpoveta, instead of waiting for indigents to pay before they can be treated, the government with the help of the scheme, has now gone further to say it would pay for the indigent without them paying a dime or little kobo.
The DSCHC DG also said with financial management, the little money available in the world can be properly used to manage financing healthcare efficiency, saying there is a need for financial management otherwise it will be stressful if they don’t manage what they have properly.
He said the commission is between the people and the service providers, stating that health insurance is important because the world or the government feels there should be intermediaries between the people and the service providers, as the providers are not trained in the economy of care.
He revealed that the ideology behind the introduction of the scheme was born out of the need when the government realized that with little money available to treat one million people, how would it be managed or planned to make it treat two million people?
While giving a detailed explanation of the concept, the DSCHC Director General said “The core word is efficiency which with financial management, the little money available can be properly used to manage financing efficiency.”
“The second concept is that the money that is saved can be used to treat other people through the efficient use of healthcare services. With the money, it means we can do more, and we can still go further in other areas that do not have healthcare such as universal coverage because if you don’t have money you cannot do universal coverage. That is why we need to save more money to do universal coverage by increasing the numbers.”
“We will also look for areas that haven’t gotten healthcare for quite some time and extend it to such areas to carry everybody along with the little fund that we have to finance efficiency, universal coverage, and also used to protect the people from financial hardships.
“Instead of waiting for the indigent to pay before you treat them, the government has now gone further to say it would pay for the indigent without them paying a dime or little kobo. But mind you, If you send a bill to us and you overload it with so many drugs that are not necessary, the claim officer and the computer will knock them off. Like for instance, to treat malaria we need only anti-malaria drugs. The cheapest most effective malaria drug is what is needed.”
Dr. Akpoveta also urged the resident doctors to ensure health insurance works effectively in the state, saying any health insurance without doctors and health workers means there is no insurance. According to him, the association of the resident’s doctors and its members is at the middle and critical level as they occupy the workforce in the health sector.
“I have worked both in the private and public sector, I have seen the back and front of healthcare insurance schemes and I want to see it work. Who will make it work? It is you guys that will make it work because if we collect money from a patient and send it to you and you do not treat him well, he will not pay or release insurance next year. Most of them are not happy with the kind of treatment they received. We have secured 1.8 million Deltans enrolled in the scheme – the highest in the country, the next to us is about 600, and is Lagos State.”
“We now realize that we have some challenges, especially by bringing in the informal sector. Those who are paying directly from the informal sector, because they come to the hospital and they are not very satisfied.
“I have investigated widely and I cannot blame you as there is an adequate shortage of manpower. I have seen doctors sitting down waiting to attend to over two hundred patients who are waiting outside. So this kind of situation, the government is aware of it and it is trying hard to resolve it.”
He encouraged the doctors to build cordial relationships with their patients while rendering their services, pleading that they should also not transfer their aggression of tiredness or overwork onto the patients.
“I know it’s stressful but you need to put on a smile even when you are tired inside out. There must be a cordial relationship between you and the patients. Don’t transfer the anger of your MD who maybe has not employed enough doctors onto the patients, it is very important.”
“We want to appeal through you to our colleagues that they are the health insurance personnel, pamper them. They are indigent people, the government pays free for those under 5 years old. Through health insurance, the government has also made it possible to treat and take care of pregnant women for free. The commission has been given money to pay for that treatment. We are also appealing to Deltans to adopt the ‘Adoption Program’ whereby well-meaning Deltans will adopt a certain number of persons and pay for their health insurance, it’s just N7000 in a year. It will go a long way in helping the scheme.
Responding, the President of the Association of Resident Doctors, Asaba branch, Dr. Okolie Innocent, thanked the DG of the Delta State Contributory Health Commission saying “As resident doctors, we make up the workforce in most of the hospitals in the country. We intend to be very involved in healthcare delivery in the state and that is why we are very much interested in the commission.”
“We know that it is a way of improving the healthcare situation in Delta and giving more to the community, we are ready to key into any program of the commission anytime when we are called upon”, he said.
