The Akwa Ibom state house of assembly has passed the bill for a law
establishing the Akwa Ibom state Health Insurance Agency and scheme.
This brings the total amount of bills passed by the house in the last
legislative year to 15 out of a total of 40 bills presented.
The
law which was sponsored by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Onofiok
Luke and 11 others, seeks to provide health insurance which shall
entitle insured persons and their
dependents to the benefits of prescribed good quality and cost effective
health services as set out in the law. It also establishes an agency
for the management and control of the scheme.
Passing the bill into law Tuesday, Speaker Onofiok Luke said "the fact that this house believes that every Akwa Ibom citizen deserves access to good and affordable healthcare services. Also, experts aver that the domestication of the health insurance scheme will not only spur equitable distribution of healthcare costs among different income groups; it will also protect families from the hardship of huge medical bills.
He added that the state "cannot guarantee sustainable development until we are able to holistically guarantee improved healthcare services through making available laws that will guarantee government’s insurance in the health sector.
It is for this reason that this house thought it imperative to create a health insurance scheme and an agency to manage the scheme."
Kufre Okon
Press Secretary to the Speaker
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