The Executive Secretary of Ebonyi State Health Insurance Agency (ESHIA), Dr. Achi Chinwoke Doris, has revealed that about 31,000 civil servants in the State and their family members would benefit from the state’s health insurance scheme.
The scheme according to her would be flagged off by the state government this November.
Dr. Achi who stated this in Abakaliki during an interview with journalists, disclosed that the state government has agreed to subsidize for the 31,000 civil servants in the state by paying 10% of each of their basic salary, noting that it would also cover for the spouse of the civil servant and four of his/her children.
She said about 10, 000 civil servants would come from the state while the rest are from the local governments and UBEB.
“The health insurance scheme is just like any other insurance where you would pay some money upfront; not so much to cover possible eventualities in the future. We understand that people can get sick when they do not have anything in their pocket. Sometimes, because of taking care of medical bills, some persons will deep their hands into their lives savings. So, the health insurance scheme helps to pull resources from people from different background, people with different ability to pay.
“As for the civil servants, they are state government properties. They are very important part of our workforce in the state.
“There are about 31,000 civil servants in the state; about 10,000 under the state. Then in the LGA, we have UBEB teachers of about 12,000 and LGA workers of about 8,000. “It is actually an initiative of this administration to ensure that everybody is covered; the civil servants and their family members.
“The state government has shown great commitment; his Excellency has shown great commitment to this project. Just last week, it was agreed that the state government was going to subsidize for every civil servants and their family members by paying 10% of the basic salary of each civil servant and its going to cover the civil servant, the spouse and four children,” she stated
