The Anambra State Government has sanctioned two hospitals that were reported for allegedly extorting enrollees of the Anambra State Health Insurance Agency (ASHIA).
Dr Simeon Onyemaechi, the agency’s Managing Director, who made this known when speaking to newsmen, explained that the agency did not owe any hospitals under the scheme and could not understand why any hospital would extort patients who are covered by the scheme.
He stressed that ASHIA remains committed to providing quality and affordable healthcare to all eligible residents of Anambra State, and will not tolerate any form of abuse of the scheme by healthcare providers.
He said, “We have sanctioned two hospitals this year for demanding extra money from ASHIA patients for services covered by the health insurance scheme.
“The government has never defaulted in the payment of capitation to hospitals rendering services to ASHIA enrollees.
“We are worried that in spite of all the sensitisation efforts on both social and traditional media, people are still being exploited by some hospitals under the scheme.”
He further encouraged enrollees of the health insurance scheme to promptly report cases of exploitation through the phone numbers provided on their insurance cards.
He affirmed, “We will not hesitate to remove healthcare facilities found to be involved in the exploitation and mistreatment of beneficiaries under the State Health Insurance Scheme. This year, we have already delisted two hospitals that charged additional fees for treating ailments covered by ASHIA.”
ASHIA was established by the Anambra State Government, under Governor Willie Obiano, to make healthcare more accessible to the citizens of the state.
The scheme was originally created for employees of the state government, but was later expanded to include private individuals. This expansion made the scheme accessible to more people and allowed for more citizens to benefit from its services.