The Director-General, Lagos State Pension Commission, Mrs Folashade Onanuga, has said that employees who retire from the Lagos State service and are up to 60 years will be given free covers under the state’s health insurance scheme.
She said this during the 72nd retirement benefit bond certificate presentation ceremony in Lagos.
According to her, Lagos State would be responsible for the payment of premium of retirees who qualified, and they would be able to access free treatment in specified hospitals.
She said, “With what we have put in place, if you understand the logic behind the health insurance, it is a scheme that is an annual cover, and you ensure you pay your premium before the cover.
“So what we have put in place is to have a smooth situation; by March; we would have paid premium for all those that have been enrolled.
“Lagos State is taking over the responsibility of paying the premium. Once we pay, by April, we can begin to access, which is the projection. We are sure by second quarter, it should commence. That is why we are registering the enrolees.”
According to her, the state is committed to the welfare of its workers even when they are no longer in paid employment.
During the event, she disclosed that the state was paying N1.88bn to retirees, who were mostly from the State Universal Basic Education Board.
She said the state was putting in place measures to ensure that it did not have any backlog in terms of accrued rights by 2021.
To achieve this, she said it had increased the funding of its accrued right account from five per cent to 10 per cent, in addition to its budgetary allocations.
“We also have pension sinking funds, we have a lot of work going on. In the last two years, we have been paying about N2bn on a monthly basis, so with the pace, we are sure that by 2021, we will not have any backlog again.
“Even as we speak, if anybody has joined Lagos State service after April 2007, and the person retires and transits to become a retiree, the funds are already in the Retirement Savings Account, but the accrued right which is that one that we have a challenge with is the one we have taken the bold step to prepare for.”
“With what we have now, we have taken into considerations, all we need up to 2022, and we are sure by 2021, your accrued rights will be sitting in your accounts.”