When rolled out at the very beginning was a dream come true, a timely intervention which augmented the efforts of the underprivileged that could not have access to complete and thorough healthcare.
The National Health Insurance scheme was orchestrated nearly two decades ago and was meant to bridge the gap of access to quality health care due to financial constraints.
The scheme has come under criticism for its shortcoming in recent times, where beneficiaries are required to pay whether they are registered under the scheme or not.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye, has called on Ghanaians to bear with the government and support the scheme where it falls short.
He pleaded on Ghana’s favorite socio-political show Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV on Thursday, April 20, 2023.
According to him, the Authority is aware of the mishap and is working assiduously with the necessary stakeholders to rectify it.
Hitherto, Okoe-Boye blamed the structures of the scheme for not using the funds received for its intended purpose.
“Recently I was in Korea. I met the head of their health insurance, and 90% of their funds, what they use to pay for their bills is controlled by the scheme itself. In Ghana, it is the opposite. It is only about 5 to 10% of the money that we use at the scheme that comes from charges. Like the processing fees and credentialing fields for service providers,” the NHIA boss said.
He also implied that the budget allocation to the scheme is a charade compared to what they received, subjecting the scheme to tons of inconveniences, and called for a national discussion on that issue.
“And sometimes, it is good to have national conversations. Very soon, I’ll be going to Edudzie [Tamakloe], to political parties, to former CEOs, [and] to Health Ministers, so that we ask ourselves, how can we bring to an end this practice? Where all the time on paper, health insurance is far richer than what comes to its account? How do we move from that position?” he expressed.
He stated that Ghana, unlike others where funds allotted to the scheme was managed by the scheme itself, the country’s case is different.
According to him, a chunk of funds donated to the scheme is disbursed by the Finance Minister which was done in his purview.
“But as long as 90% of the funds that come to Health Insurance must be disbursed by a Finance Minister and a lot of discretion lies with the finance.”
The NHIA boss said the government must be able to identify vulnerable people who are the main targets of the scheme and be enrolled as done in other parts of the world.
This, in his view, will determine those who could afford the services and those who could not and ultimately alleviate the scheme from suffocation.
“I know that every government desire is that the poor should not be excluded, is that not it? Find a means to identify all the poor as they do in the U.S.,” he positioned.
Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye further gave assurance of taking the matter to Parliament to see finality to it.
“I’ll get close to him [the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyamang-Manu], I will let him appreciate the feedback that I have gotten from where I sit and encourage him also to make sure that we have more conversations with both Finance and Cabinet when I say cabinet, I mean where the policy amendment can happen.”
By Leonora Enyonam Annoh | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
