Leading Health Insurance Company, Avon Healthcare Limited (Avon HMO), has announced a collection of six health plans designed specifically for individuals, families, groups and associations. The plans are designed to accommodate a wide cross section of Nigerians; ensuring adequate coverage of the typical and prevalent ailments found in the country whilst providing quality care at affordable costs.
The Avon Core plan for example is priced from as low as a N15,000 annual payment, whilst there are also international plans developed for those Nigerians who travel frequently and want the peace of mind and assurance of seamless healthcare coverage no matter where they are in the world.
Introducing the plans during a press briefing held recently at the company’s corporate headquarters in Lagos, Mrs. Adesimbo Ukiri, the MD/CEO of Avon HMO, stated that the plans will supplement Avon’s existing suite of Health Plans for companies and businesses.
The new plans come on the heels of the announcement by the NHIS that Avon HMO has been licensed and accredited as a national HMO. She said: “Avon HMO is thus able to offer not only its own private health plans, but also the full array of NHIS plans to Individuals, Associations Communities and Governments across all states and regions”.
Mrs. Ukiri emphasized the role Avon HMO plays in raising quality assurance standards in the Health Insurance industry. According to her: “Our focus on quality assurance is painstaking and we work very closely with Provider Hospitals to ensure that our enrolled members receive the best care. For instance, Avon HMO Case Managers have scheduled daily visits to hospitals to engage with enrolled members on admission, overseeing the care they receive and providing further assurances; over 75 per cent of all recorded admissions are visited in this manner”.
She further indicated that Avon HMO Care Coordinators also work with Provider hospitals to achieve adherence to agreed Disease Management Protocols and Drug Formularies to sustain high levels of clinical and pharmacy quality to Avon HMO’s enrolled members. She said: “We are pleased to state that 98 per cent of our Hospitals adhere to the Drug Formulary, thus ensuring that effective drugs are given to our patients. In recognition of the crucial role Provider Hospitals play and their resultant well-deserved right to adequate and effective remuneration, Avon HMO ensures Capitation payments to relevant Provider Hospitals are paid before the first day of the month and claims are processed and paid within a 30-45 days cycle of receipt.”
Ukiri also spoke about Avon HMO’s efforts in the area of customer service and complaints resolution. She explained that Avon HMO has a robust Complaints Resolution Procedure in place, utilizing multiple channels of calls, text, email, BBM and chat through which complaints are received, resolved and confirmation of resolution obtained. ‘’The sector still has a number of challenges which may affect service delivery. However, at Avon HMO, our processes are streamlined and the resolution time for most issues fall within a 5 – 15 minutes window,” Ukiri revealed.
In concluding, Mrs. Ukiri acknowledged that although achieving Universal Health coverage in Nigeria is not a sprint to be won overnight, the introduction of Avon HMO’s Health plans for Individuals and families is a crucial step in the right direction.
