The Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye, has emphasized the construction of more new regional and district offices to expand coverage of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He said that making the NHIS accessible to all residents in Ghana and those on visits would help to increase the scheme’s active membership drive.
On August 1, 2023, the NHIA boss inaugurated the NHIS Asawase district office in the Ashanti Region as part of his second-leg tour of the region.
He said that the NHIA was determined to eliminate any form of financial barriers that negatively impacted the healthcare needs of the scheme’s members.
“It has been 20 years since the inception of the NHIS,” he said. “I commend successive governments, especially the government of the day led by His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for contributing to the NHIS’s sustainability and its achievements so far.”
“The benefit package has been successfully expanded over the years. The most recent additions are the Free Elderly Healthcare policy for people 70 years and above and the four childhood cancers.”
He reiterated the importance of prompt payments of claims to credentialed healthcare service providers as a way to completely eliminate out-of-pocket payments (copayments) for services covered by the NHIS.
“Currently, we make monthly payments to service providers whose claims have been vetted and approved. Just yesterday, July 31st, we paid our hardworking credentialed healthcare providers over GHS186 million, reducing the previous piled-up debt to just one month.”
“As a result of the rapid claims payments, we launched a platform known as the ‘Sunshine Policy’ to deepen accountability, transparency, and social auditing. Since its launch, suppliers of drugs to healthcare facilities and other stakeholders have been able to log onto the NHIA website with privileged access to view payments made to deserving facilities.”
He commended the Member of Parliament for Asawase constituency, Hon. Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, for lobbying and supporting the construction of the NHIS District office.
“All residents of Asawase should sign up for the NHIS in line with the scheme’s motto, which is ‘Your Access to Health.’ Go for periodic medical checkups to avoid complicated disease conditions that will affect your long life.”
According to Dr. Okoe Boye, people with mental health challenges will soon benefit from the NHIS.
The ultimate goal of the NHIA is to fully drive the national agenda of attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by the year 2030.
The Authority has taken initiatives and accomplished these goals in the light of contributing to the overall growth and development of the Ghanaian economy.
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