Abuja — Bauchi State Government has earmarked N540m as initial contribution for the enrollment of its 25,000 workforce into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

The move followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the state government and the authorities of the National Health Insurance Scheme on the project.

The health insurance scheme is expected to commence in the state on May 1, 2008 and will save the state about eleven million naira (N11million) monthly through cross subsidisation of medical bills from the national pool.

Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State who spoke while endorsing the agreement said his administration has offered not only to enroll its entire workforce in the scheme but also to foot the entire bill for the first one year. Under normal circumstances, individual enrollees joining the National Health Insurance Scheme

are required to contribute five per cent of their basic salary to the scheme while their employers contribute a sum equivalent to ten per cent of the worker's basic salary to make up the mandatory fifteen per cent contribution required by the scheme.