The Obuasi Office of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), at a stakeholder forum on Tuesday, December 4, 2018, unveiled the New NHIS Mobile Renewal and Digital Authentication policy which will allow users to renew their Health Insurance on their mobile phones when it is out of date.

The new policy, which has been introduced to relieve subscribers of the burden of having to go to the NHIS District offices as well as reduce congestion, is scheduled to be launched officially by the President in Accra at the beginning of 2019, according to management.

In an address, the Manager of the Obuasi office of NHIS, Mr. Confidence Owusu Kontoh, stressed on how the previous renewal policy had suffered a number of operational inefficiencies and hitches, which had contributed to a significant reduction in the patronage of the scheme.

A recent survey indicated that only 42% of Ghanaians are registered on the NHIS after 15 years of existence.

He indicated that the new policy is designed for renewal fees to be paid through Mobile Money in order to reduce waiting times and long queues in the district offices.

The new development would enable registered NHIS users to be notified ahead of expiry dates in order to deal with the uncertainties that members may encounter and also prevent the situation where others are denied access to medical care in hospitals due to notification of expiry at the point of claim, he remarked.

Stakeholders were taken through the new, easy and convenient process using the shortcode *929# in a move to intensify publicity on the new policy.

The Obuasi NHIS also appealed to the media to sensitize the general public on the new renewal policy.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Obuasi East District Assembly, Faustina Amissah lauded the NHIS for introducing the new policy and urged Assembly members who hitherto served as volunteers in registering and renewing the subscriptions of community members under the previous policy, to embrace it and educate their electorates on its implementation.

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Credit:  Sampson Manu | ISD