Actors Guild decries members’ reluctance to health insurance

Emeka Rollas, National President, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), has expressed concern over unwillingness of some Nollywood actors to subscribe to the guild’s health insurance plan for members across the country.

He told reporters on Thursday in Abuja that the guild has substantive Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) that provide standard health insurance cover on a monthly fee and also work insurance cover for members.

The AGN helmsman, who was reacting to the trend of ailing celebrities going on social media to solicit for financial help, stressed that the guild has an existing insurance plan for members.

He said “we have health management cover with HMOs, which give access to over 600 hospitals across the country and then
we have the out of production insurance cover.

“The out of production covers accident on production, like you have accident on set or somebody dies.

“For the HMO, the minimum subscription is N1,700 per month, and you can do three months, six months, or even quarterly.

“Beside the standard health insurance, which deals with minor issues, there are comprehensive covers  which a member can
get from the HMOs at subsidised rate because of AGN’s relationship with them.

“But of course,  AGN is not a company where members are paid monthly salary that can be deducted ahead, so, members have to
show commitment and willingness by paying their premiums.”

Rollas, however, lamented that in spite of the guild’s commitment to actors’ welfare, many were unwilling to sign up with the HMOs, while some that have subscribed were not paying their premium.

He said some of those soliciting for fund from the public did not subscribe to the guild’s healthcare plans.

He, however, urged Nigerians, especially fans of Nigerian actors, not to make the health concerns of celebrities a topic of controversy, by calling out their families and the guild.

He said “some actors are not interested in insurance, while many have the celebrity mentality that everything should be done for them for free.

“They want to wake up one morning and hear that a Health Management Organisation has paid for them to be going to the hospital whenever they are sick.

“The truth is that people get sick everyday, but since actors are celebrities, their own tend to attract attention.

“That is why we discourage people from going to social media to ask for help, as we can work on it from an administrative point of view and you see real genuine supporters coming out.

`I, therefore, use this medium to appeal to young actors to sign up for the AGN HMO and insurance programmes,” Rollas said.

NAN/S.S