The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Medicard Health Management, a health services provider, to address the practice of soliciting funds for medical emergencies among its members and independent Nollywood actors.
The guild broke the news on Tuesday in a statement on its official Instagram page.
It said that Medicard will from August 17, be the approved official Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) and Health Management Services Provider of the guild.
HMO is a medical insurance group that provides health services for a fixed annual fee.
The AGN noted that it has also developed a group life insurance cover, an automatic car insurance renewal at zero cost, among other packages.
The guild said the move had come as part of efforts to prioritise the welfare of its members. It also charged actors to reach out to the AGN secretariat of their states to pick any hospital of their choice.
“With your support and the support of AGN excos, we signed an MOU with Medicard Health Management as the official HMO and Health Management Services Provider of the AGN,” it wrote.
“Our members will no longer resort to public begging for their health or medical needs. Each and every actor or actress in Nigeria henceforth will enjoy a comprehensive HMO cover.
“With the partnership we created, members and independent actors in Nigeria will have access to over 600 hospitals nationwide for their health and medical needs, drugs, and treatment Inclusive.
“In addition to this, we now have a group life insurance cover for all our members.
“With the partnership, we have established with Medicard Nigeria, our members can now access medical tourism overseas for kidney transplants and surgery.
“Our members can also use their cards to enjoy discount purchases on meat and chicken stores nationwide, automatic car insurance renewal at zero cost and so much more.
“We are able to achieve this today because we believe that members of the AGN deserve the best. Actors and actresses deserve the best and we will leave no stone unturned to make this a reality.”
Before now, actors — including Baba Suwe and Ify Onwuemene — had solicited funds to foot their medical bills in a trend that Bankole Wellington, a showbiz mogul, described as heartbreaking.
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