The Federal Capital Territory
Administration (FCTA) has launched its Health Insurance Scheme Call Service Centre in order to ease access to health information and facilities.
The Acting Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat in the FCT, Dr Mohammed Kawu made the call at the unveiling ceremony of the facility in Abuja.
Dr Kawu who said the call centre is established to give fast responses to residents who have complaints with Health Insurance enrolments or Hospitals also maintained that attaining Universal Health Coverage is possible, urged the FCT residents take advantage of the FCT Health Insurance Scheme to minimize out of pocket spending.
According to him, “You can provide the facility, the medical equipment, personnel, drugs and consumables, but if people do not have money to access those services, what are you going to do? Nothing, health Insurance is a tool to which you use to achieve the Universal Health Coverage. If you establish a health insurance and you cannot connect to the public, you cannot talk to people and people cannot talk to you then you have another encumbrances to achieving Universal Health Coverage”
Earlier, the Director FCT Health Insurance Scheme, Dr Mohammed Ahmed -Danfulani while taking the Acting Secretary round the Facility said, the call centre is a “service centre were you can come change your hospital, you can change your dependants, you can choose a facility as you so wish and collection of ID cards for 24 hours”.
He added that, the poor and vulnerable persons are not left out of health insurance as the Federal government through the Ministry of health has introduced the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) that gives free Insurance cover for the poor and vulnerable.
“For now all states insurance scheme have equity fund, the equity funding is purely reserved for the poor and vulnerable and every state government is encouraged to use this fund in the state social health insurance scheme so that the poor and vulnerable can be enrolled”, he added.
L.Nasir
