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Health insurance is experiencing an impressive and stable growth in Oyo State as thousands of masses embrace the idea which helps take care of medical bills for routine and critical care.
The Oyo State health insurance scheme delivers great benefits that attract more enrolments daily.
Hardly known at inception in 2017, the scheme, which is being administered by the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA), is fast becoming a household name among the masses of the people in different walks of life.
Its fame has grown steadily in the last four years due to certain facts highlighted below;
1. Affordability
The greatest attraction to the health insurance scheme by the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA) is the cheap cost. Unlike what obtains in the full private sector, OYSHIA developed different plans to cover people in all economic classes in the society such that the very poorest people in the society can afford one. They include Standard Plan, Top-up Plans as well as Students and Tertiary Institutions Plan. The agency is already working on a new plan that will bridge the Standard and Top-Up plans to cater for the need of people with pre-existing conditions. This fact has endeared the scheme to residents across the state.
2. Accessibility
For a scheme rolled out for the benefit of all residents across the state irrespective of social class, OYSHIA made its services so accessible by partnering with existing health facilities which ultimately brought the services closer to the people. For instance, OYSHIA has over 150 accredited facilities across all the 33 local governments of the state. No insurance company can boast of this. In Ibadan alone, the agency has over 90 facilities where people can conveniently access its services.
In addition to ease of access to services, the agency is in partnership with Opay. This makes it possible to register and make payment on the Opay app from the comfort of one’s room.
3. Credibility
Since inception, the agency has maintained high credibility by delivering on its promises, thereby attracting many more to consider enrolling on the scheme. Enrollees enjoy free hospitalization in a general ward for the first two days of admission in addition to free doctor consultation whenever they have reasons to visit. In many ways, OYSHIA helps save a lot of money that will ordinarily be spent on drugs. Enrollees enjoy free tests in primary and secondary care and get free generic drugs prescribed by doctors after consultation. This has been sustained over the years.
4. Expansion
With just a few facilities at its take-off in 2017, the agency now parades over 150 facilities with enrolment now more than 200,000. OYSHIA is penetrating remote communities even as it widens it net in cities, especially among artisans, traders and the elite. It opens new contact centres, partners pharmaceutical companies, support rebuilding of primary healthcare centres and equipping them for effective service delivery.
5. Swift resolution of issues
OYSHIA has earned fame for quick resolution of issues raised by enrollees. With several hot contact telephone lines, email and social media accounts that are handled by well-trained staff, enrollees have no difficulty reaching out to the agency to report any infraction by accredited facilities. The registration number issued to enrollees provide easy identification to resolve issues. At OYSHIA, issues are not prolonged.
6. Proper monitoring of hospitals/facilities
Accredited facilities are properly monitored for effective service delivery. Some facilities have been sacked for inefficiency.
7. Constant policy review
OYSHIA constantly reviews its plans to ensure more people are accommodated and that service is improved. This has also led to new partnerships and development of a new plan that will be rolled out soon.