The national president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas,

has expressed concern over the unwillingness of some Nollywood actors to subscribe to the guild’s health insurance plan for members across the country.

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

The AGN helmsman, reacting to the trend of ailing celebrities going on social media to solicit 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 accidents on production like you have an 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.”

He said some actors soliciting funds from the public did not subscribe to the guild’s healthcare plans.

Rollas, however, lamented that despite the guild’s commitment to actor’s welfare, many were unwilling to sign up for the HMOs, while some that have subscribed were not paying their premium.

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.

Rollas 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.”

He urged actors to sign up for the insurance programmes and refrain from soliciting funds on social media.

“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,” Rollas said.

(NAN)