The Gombe State Government has formally commenced the Contributory Healthcare Scheme in the state, codenamed GoHealth, to provide residents with access to quality and affordable health care services.
Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, Flagging off the scgeme in Gombe said, the GoHealth scheme was conceived to ensure that residents did not suffer financial hardship while accessing healthcare services.
He said the government had already reached an agreement with labour unions for the contribution of 3.5%of workers salaries, while the government would contribute another 3.5% to cover the health needs of workers and their dependants.
“The government had constituted the governing board and deployed appreciate and competent staff to the agency to ensure the successful implementation of the scheme,” Yahaya said.
“Available data shows that in the North-East region of Nigeria, more than 60% of this kind of out-of-pocket expenditure for health services pushes individuals and families into poverty.
“That is why we worked tirelessly with the Gombe State House of Assembly to enact the enabling law that established the Gombe State Contributory Healthcare Scheme (GoHealth) following the decentralization of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS),” he added.
Governor Yahaya promised that his administration would continue to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure the provision of quality and affordable healthcare to the people of Gombe State.
He said his administration was working hard to improve the physical access to quality healthcare services, by considering the significant hardship that individuals and families face, because they had to pay for basic health care services out-of-pocket at the point of service utilisation.
