Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has urged residents to embrace health insurance, warning that a sudden illness could wipe out a family’s savings through out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Abayomi gave the warning on Wednesday after visiting the construction site of the new 150-bed Shomolu Specialist General Hospital, where he made an unscheduled stop at the existing Shomolu General Hospital to interact with patients and staff.
The commissioner said his interaction with patients was partly aimed at understanding what residents know about health insurance and how they experience healthcare services.
He said residents who do not have health insurance could be required to pay for virtually every aspect of their treatment, including hospital cards, laboratory tests, drugs and hospital admission.
According to him, such expenses can become a major financial burden when a person suddenly falls ill.
Abayomi said health insurance offers residents an alternative by allowing them to access healthcare through a pooled funding system, where the financial burden of treatment is shared among subscribers.
He highlighted the Ilera Eko scheme operated by the Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA), saying its lowest subsidised plan costs N15,000 annually, equivalent to about N1,250 monthly for one person.
The commissioner said the plan covers doctor consultations, antenatal and childbirth care, malaria and fever treatment, management of blood pressure and diabetes, laboratory tests, simple surgeries, specialist consultations and up to 15 days of hospital admission annually.
“Without insurance, you pay cash for everything: the hospital card, each lab test, every night on admission, every drug. One sudden illness can empty a family’s savings.
“With insurance, that changes. On Ilera Eko, the lowest subsidised plan costs N15,000 a year, about N1,250 a month, for one person. It covers doctor visits, antenatal and childbirth care, malaria and fever treatment, blood pressure and diabetes management, lab tests, simple surgeries, specialist visits and up to 15 hospital days a year,” he said in a post on X.
Abayomi explained that the affordability of the plan was largely due to government subsidy, noting that its unsubsidised cost would be about N100,000 annually.
He said health insurance was now mandatory in Lagos State under the 2024 Executive Order, which domesticated the National Health Insurance Authority Act 2022.
The commissioner, however, advised residents to understand the benefits and limits attached to their insurance plans, noting that treatment outside a subscriber’s package or beyond the annual coverage limit would have to be paid for separately.
He said residents who are not corporate employees and wish to enrol in Ilera Eko could visit any LASHMA office, health insurance desk at Lagos State general hospitals or 24-hour primary healthcare centres.
