From Femi Mustapha, in Kaduna
In line with its target to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by the year 2030, the Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority (KADCHMA) is set to enroll over 16,000 Pensioners into its Health Insurance Scheme.
The Director General of KADCHMA, Hassan Abubakar, stated this during the enrollment of the first batch of beneficiaries in Kaduna today (Wednesday).
The D.G. disclosed that steps have been made to sign a memorandum of understanding with other Associations and Unions across the 23 Local governments of the state, as it has been done with the pension union of Kaduna State.
He added that considering how robust the benefit of the scheme is, the Pensioners have nothing to worry about as regards healthcare.
“The authority was established in the far back 1918 by the Kaduna State Government under law no.7 to provide the residents of Kaduna State with quality and affordable healthcare services.
“The Pensioners in Kaduna State are not an exception; they are part of Kaduna State, and We felt that there was a need for us to bring them on board so that they can be beneficiaries because our target is to achieve universal health coverage by the year 2030.
“It is expected that the Pensioners of Kaduna State will benefit a lot, looking at how robust our benefit package is. So the healthcare will be taken care of without engaging in unnecessary expenditures on healthcare.
“We are targeting 16,000 Pensioners in Kaduna State. Discussion is ongoing with Nurture, the Market Traders Association, and the Nigerian Association of Proprietors of Private Schools; we had a meeting with their executives yesterday.
“Insha Allah, before the year ends, we are going to sign a memorandum of understanding with the associations and unions, as we did with the pension union of Kaduna State where we signed an MoU two weeks back and we are targeting other unions across the 23 Local government of the state so nobody and no union will be left out.
Speaking to the newsmen, the state secretary, Nigerian Union of Pensions, Comr. Hassan Balarabe Musa applauded the Kaduna State government for including Pensioners in the State Health Insurance Scheme.
The State Secretary disclosed that a special health insurance package is being designed by KADCHMA to provide quality healthcare services for the Pensioners.
“Alhamdulilah, they are about to be enrolled, and this is just the beginning; we have started with zone two as a pilot.
“Generally, Pensioners are people aged 60 and above, and they are vulnerable persons with special cases like arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, and sight cases.
“So we have looked at the package, and it didn’t include these kinds of cases, but we have spoken to KADCHMA, and they have agreed to design special cases for Kaduna state Pensioners, and we appreciate the effort of the Kaduna state government to enroll Pensioners and even design special packages for them.
“The cost of healthcare now in Nigeria is high, even if you go for a malaria test, you will spend nothing less than 10,000 Naira in a day but we have seen a lot of benefits for the Pensioners, at least to cut cost for them and it will improve their own lives by enrolling them in the skill.
