Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Labour Party governorship candidate in the state’s 2023 election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, have disagreed over the Executive Order on the Social Health Insurance Scheme believed to peg a monthly contribution of ₦15,000 for each resident.

Mr Rhodes-Vivour in a statement on Tuesday lamented that, “For minimum wage earners, this ₦15,000 monthly contribution represents nearly 20% of their income—an unsustainable burden that will push many further into economic hardship.”

However, the Lagos State Health Management Agency in a statement on X on Wednesday, said that what Mr Rhodes-Vivour was referring to was its minimum plan in the scheme called the “Standard Jaara Individual Plan, which costs ₦15,000 annually, not monthly,” adding that it included benefits, “including coverage for surgeries, diabetes mellitus, sickle cell disease, asthma, maternal care, eye care, dental care, pharmaceutical services, and more.”

The governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, earlier in a statement on Tuesday, reacting to Rhodes-Vivour’s claim, said “The social health insurance plan of Lagos State has an ANNUAL premium of N15,000.00 only per individual and NOT MONTHLY as stated by you.’’

He noted, “For the informal sector who largely earn their income daily, the pay small small initiative is in existence to provide them the means of paying by installment while still getting access to the same care and services as those that pay annual premium.”

He also stated that for some residents that may still be unable to pay the premium, “the state government in compliance with the Lagos State Health Scheme Law has allocated the equity fund for coverage of the vulnerable.’’

According to him, the budgetary allocation “has been tripled from N1billion to N3 billion to provide even more funds to be able to cover the vulnerable.”

Mr Akosile also acknowledged the opposition figure’s fears regarding inadequate manpower in the sector, assuring that the governor had already put measures in place to bridge the gaps in the doctor-patient ratio.

He said Mr Sanwo-Olu’s Executive Order, emanated from the National Health Insurance Act, enacted on May 19, 2022, replacing the National Health Insurance Scheme Act of 1999, which made, “Social Health Insurance mandatory for all Nigerians. This means that Nigerians are expected to key into the social health insurance of the states they reside in.”