‘Nigerians Can Secure N10m Health Coverage With Token Premium’

Nigerians can get up to N10 million Sum Assured on N10,000 premium paid for health insurance policy, experts said. 

In a recent live webinar hosted by Coronation Life Assurance, experts charged Nigerians to secure their well-being through health insurance scheme that can be procured with a token premium.

The head, Partnership, Coronation Life Assurance Limited, Kehinde Grillo said, his insurer has different range of insurance covers for critical illness with premium as low N10,000 per annum with sum assured of N10 million, thereby, imploring the public to leverage insurance to protect their health against critical illness.

Since premiums can generally be paid monthly, bi-monthly, annually, or even in a once-off lump sum, he said, flexibility with relatively low premiums makes insurance available to most.

To him, “Another advantage of health insurance is its impact on improving health outcomes. Once people purchase a health insurance policy, they usually become more aware of the dietary and lifestyle practices that contribute to improved health and longevity, as healthier behaviour extends the value and impact of their health investment. In some countries, insurance providers actively incentivise healthy lifestyle practices through premium rebates or rewards. Healthier client populations reduce the cost of insurance, lowering premiums for members and allowing health cover to be extended to wider populations.”

While most insurance products don’t cover pre-existing conditions and most health policies cannot be purchased beyond the age of 65, he stated that the insurance industry in Nigeria is generally willing to write individual policies for individual circumstances. 

“That said, it is advisable to purchase health insurance while young or still an active professional. Not only does this help preserve and grow wealth throughout one’s life and ensure better lifestyle choices and health outcomes, but it also enlarges the pool of contributions, enabling the industry to extend cover to more Nigerians,” he pointed out. 

Similarly, assistant director of Underwriting and Marketing at Africa Re, Abdul-Rasheed Akolade, who was the keynote speaker, said critical illness insurance is a vital part of an organised arrangement any adult may use in safeguarding his or her health, adding that, it provides a lump sum payment if the insured person is diagnosed with any of the critical illness conditions covered in the insurance policy.

Critical illness insurance, he stressed, is an insurance product which makes provision for the payment of a certain sum (known as the Sum Assured) in lump sum if the Insured Person is diagnosed with any of the specified critical illness as stated in the policy usually during the term of the policy – and provided that the other requirements under the policy are met.

According to him, “It is also important that Nigerians understand that they can purchase multiple health covers, provided they declare overlapping covers at purchase. Should a single individual have a policy ensuring a particular condition up to N10 million, and another separate policy ensuring the same condition up to N20 million, for example, that individual would be able to call on up to N30 million worth of cover in the event of contracting the named condition.”

Founder/managing director, Tillit MSME Microservices, Dr. Yomi Sule, called for enhancement of health insurance pool to enable wider coverage on insurance of critical illness.

In her closing remarks, the Head of Claims at Coronation Life Assurance Limited, Oluwatosin Ajiniran, said, in a country characterised by relatively short-term thinking, the Nigerian insurance industry is working to democratise the country’s insurance sector through a combination of public education as well as the provision of accessible and affordable products. Nigeria, Ajiniran said, boasts a broad range of off-the-shelf health insurance and critical illness products easily available over the phone, online, or digitally via handheld phones.

“Every effort should be made to manage and preserve health as it is the key to wealth. Nigeria’s insurance sector is leading the charge to deepen financial inclusion in the country, developing products and services designed to build and preserve wealth by equipping Nigerians to manage their health affordable, “ Ajiniran said.