The Lagos State Health Management Agency has revealed that it has successfully enrolled over one million residents in its Ilera Eko health insurance scheme as part of efforts towards achieving Universal Health Coverage in the state.
The Permanent Secretary of LASHMA, Dr Emmanuella Zamba, said the agency is intensifying efforts to raise awareness and encourage more residents to join the scheme despite reaching 1,064,897 enrollees.
She stated this on Monday at a Joint press briefing organised by LASHMA, and the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency on the uptake of Ilera Eko for Lagos State residents.
The LASHMA boss explained that to reach the informal sector, which remains the primary target, the agency has established five Divisional Offices, 14 Sub-divisional offices, and 16 kiosks across Lagos State, providing multiple registration points for residents.
Zamba stated that Enrolment Officers actively visit various communities to enlist residents and that grassroots programmes have been launched to increase awareness.
Speaking on the financial challenges faced by some residents, she said LASHMA introduced the “Ilera Eko Pay-Small-Small” instalment plan, adding that this flexible option allows residents to pay their premiums monthly, quarterly, or bi-annually.
While emphasising the need to intensify enrolment efforts to ensure more residents benefit from the scheme, the PS explained that LASHMA partnered LASRRA to enhance registration and utilisation of Ilera Eko.
She noted that under this partnership, residents registering with LASRRA will automatically be enrolled in Ilera Eko if they haven’t registered before.
The permanent secretary further stated that the first phase of the collaboration would be piloted in five locations including, Lagos Island LCDA, Igando/Ikotun LCDA, Ikorodu LGA, Agege LGA, and Badagry LGA.
Zamba said these areas were chosen due to their high daily registration volumes with LASRRA.
She added that in the second phase, LASRRA will integrate an applet on its ID card containing enrollee information, replacing the current LASHMA ID card.
According to her, biometric devices will be deployed in selected hospitals to capture and verify enrollee information before accessing care.
