AGN President expresses worry over Nollywood actors' reluctance to health insurance plan

Emeka Rollas, the National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), expressed concern over actors' resistance to joining the guild's nationwide health insurance scheme.

The AGN president made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, noting that the guild has established Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) offering comprehensive health coverage for members through a monthly fee, including work insurance.

AllNews recalls that Nollywood actors John Okafor (Mr Ibu) and Amaechi Muonagor have solicited financial help from Nigerians over health problems in 2023. 

Rollas, addressing the increasing trend of ailing celebrities seeking financial assistance on social media, emphasized the guild's existing insurance plan designed for members' welfare.

He said: “We have health management cover with HMOs, which give access to over 600 hospitals across the country and then we have the out-of-production insurance cover.

“The out-of-production covers accidents on production like you have an accident on set or somebody dies.

“For the HMO, the minimum subscription is N1,700 per month, and you can do three months, six months, or even quarterly.

“Besides the standard health insurance, which deals with minor issues, there are comprehensive covers which a member can get from the HMOs at subsidised rate because of AGN’s relationship with them.

“But of course,  AGN is not a company where members are paid monthly salary that can be deducted ahead, so, members have to show commitment and willingness by paying their premiums.”

The AGN President further expressed disappointment that despite the guild's efforts, many actors were hesitant to enrol in the HMOs, and some who had joined were neglecting their premium payments.

He noted that some of the celebrities seeking public financial aid had not availed themselves of the guild’s healthcare plans.

Rollas advised Nigerians, especially fans to avoid stirring controversy by involving the families and the guild in discussions concerning celebrities' health issues.

“Some actors are not interested in insurance, while many have the celebrity mentality that everything should be done for them for free.

“They want to wake up one morning and hear that a Health Management Organisation has paid for them to be going to the hospital whenever they are sick.

“The truth is that people get sick every day, but since actors are celebrities, their own tend to attract attention.

“That is why we discourage people from going to social media to ask for help, as we can work on it from an administrative point of view and you see real genuine supporters coming out.

`I, therefore, use this medium to appeal to young actors to sign up for the AGN HMO and insurance programmes,” Rollas added.