Dr. Aboagye Dacosta,
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) says the Ghana Card can now be used to access healthcare across any accredited health centre in the country.
The move is to phase out the NHIS cards in the system to have a single card to save the nation the cost of printing NHIS cards as well as the Ghana Card.
The Chief Executive of the NHIA, Dr. Aboagye Dacosta, announced this when he paid a courtesy call on the Okuapenhene, Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, at Akropong after commissioning an ultra-modern NHIS Office Complex at Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region.
Digitalisation
The NHIA boss underscored a pivotal aspect of the government’s digitalisation initiative: the transition to a singular identification card, the GhanaCard. He emphasised that while individuals under the age of 15 might not possess a GhanaCard, they are issued NHIS cards.
He said this strategic move aims to streamline administrative processes, ensuring that every citizen has access to essential healthcare services. He indicated that by integrating NHIS membership details into the GhanaCard system, the government aims to enhance efficiency and reduce operational costs within the healthcare sector.
Dr. Aboagye Dacosta revealed that the NHIA was also instituting a system where non-Ghanaians will also benefit from health insurance through a mandatory health scheme whenever they are in Ghana. He noted that the NHIA had tremendously improved claims payment and pays an average of GHC180 million a month as claims reimbursement.
He confirmed that about 171 million was paid to mixed tiers just last week, April 30, with the lower tier being paid in January and February 2024 while the upper tier received up to November 2023 claims.
Caution
He cautioned accredited healthcare providers to refrain from charging illegal fees, also known as co-payments. He said the practice flouts Act 852 which governs the scheme and violates the contractual agreement between the Authority and credentialed health providers.
“I want to put an end to the ‘Co-payment’ or illegal charges at the Health provider’s sites that are making the scheme unpopular. I intend to put a system in place to control the prices in periods of economic downturn. With all these incentives, health providers must not charge our members for services and medicines that the NHIA is paying for. Any provider who goes contrary to the agreed principles would be sanctioned,” he warned.
He stated, “Currently, we are in the process of reviewing the medicines list and tariff to align with prevailing economic and epidemiological trends. The updated tariff and medicine list will be released promptly following the completion of requisite protocols.”
