Awareness and Acceptance of a Contributory Health Insurance Scheme (GO HEALTH) amongst Civil Servants in a North Eastern State of Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The deployment of accessible, equitable, and affordable healthcare packages to all is vital to the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), especially in developing nations like Nigeria. Hence, effective planning, funding, coordination, communication, and prioritization of proven strategies such as the health insurance scheme will reduce the catastrophic out-of-pocket payment for health services. Objectives: This study investigated the awareness and acceptance of Gombe State Contributory Health Insurance Scheme (GO-HEALTH) amongst Civil Servants working in the state. Methodology: The research was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out amongst 400 enrollees of the Gombe State contributory health insurance scheme (GO-HEALTH). Study participants
were selected from five (5) state ministries using a multi-stage sampling technique. Data collection was done using a thirty-nine (39) item self-administered questionnaire. The completed questionnaires were retrieved and analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS V.26). Results: The respondents comprised 243 Males (60.8%), and 157 Females (39.2%) with a male-female ratio of 1.6:1, and a mean ±SD age of 38.5±10.2 years. The mean ±SD monthly income was ₦76,400 ± 27,600. The findings revealed that there were low levels of awareness (2.63±1.05, P=0.704) and acceptance (2.84±1.24, P =0.502) of the scheme with a significantly (p<0.000) high
Spearman's correlation coefficient rho (r ) =0.586, between the two variables, namely; awareness and acceptance of s GO-HEALTH among the respondents. Conclusion: This study concluded that there were low levels of awareness and acceptance of the Gombe State Contributory Health Insurance Scheme (GO-HEALTH) amongst the state civil servants. The researchers recommend continuous public enlightenment, education and promotion, periodic monitoring and evaluation, and effective collaboration with critical stakeholders for the sustainability of the scheme.