Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle says no fewer than 110,000 military retirees have been enrolled in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Mr Matawalle disclosed this during an interactive session with military retirees groups on Thursday in Abuja.

”Today, we have enrolled no fewer than 110,000 retirees, and the enrollment is still ongoing,” Mr Matawalle said. 

He added, ”The essence is to take care of the health needs of our military personnel after active service. I think that our veterans are lucky.” 

Represented by Olajide Johnson, the director of health services, Mr Matawalle restated the federal government’s commitment to providing adequate healthcare for both serving and retired military personnel.

The theme of the meeting is: ”Advancing the Health Care of Military Veterans.”

The meeting was convened by Defence Health Maintenance Ltd  (DHML), the Health Maintenance Organisation in charge of healthcare provision for military personnel under the NHIS.

The minister said the federal government initially enrolled about 20,000 military retirees when the insurance scheme took off.

Mr Matawalle urged the beneficiaries to make adequate use of the scheme for their health.

”It is your right to be catered for at this period of your lives. At this stage, what takes most of your money is your health.

”We are happy that the narrative has changed; the government now caters for you even after you have served the nation,” Mr Matawalle said.

The minister commended DHML for prioritising the healthcare needs of military retirees in its insurance package.

In his speech, the managing director of DHML, Rear Adm. Bayo Afolayan (Rtd), said the essence of the meeting was to educate the military retirees on the benefits of the NHIS.

Mr Olaniyan said military retirees would access the health insurance package without deductions from their pensions

Also speaking, the head of administration at DHML, Cdr. Tunde Alabi (Rtd) noted that there was appreciable awareness about the scheme, and more retired military personnel had come out to enroll.

(NAN)