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 fade away the NHIS cards in the system to have a single card to save the nation the cost of printing NHIS cards as well as Ghanacard.
The Chief Executive of the NHIA, Dr Aboagye Dacosta said 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 on Tuesday, 7th May 2024.
Briefing the Okuapenhene and his subjects; he noted that “Under the Digitalisation agenda of the government, we are mandated to have One Card and that’s the Ghana card. Some of the age groups that are below 15 years have no Ghanacard, but NHIS cards are printed for them”.
According to him, “this card would be integrated with the NHIS member details so the merged or linked Ghanacard is used to access health care. This will save the nation the cost of printing NHIS cards as well as Ghanacard. The merged or linked Ghanacard is used to access healthcare”.
He further noted that the NHIA is also instituting a system where non-Ghanaians (Foreigners) will also benefit from Health Insurance through a Mandatory Health Scheme, whenever they are in Ghana.
Speaking further, he noted that the NHIA has tremendously improved Claims Payments and pays an average of GHS 180 million a month as Claims reimbursement.
He confirmed that about GHC 171 million was paid to be mixed tiers just last week, 30th April with the Lower tier being paid in January and February 2024 while the upper tier received up to November 2023 Claims.
At the commissioning of the Odumase-Krobo NHIS Office, he cautioned accredited healthcare providers to refrain from charging illegal fees, also known as co-payments.
According to NHIA, the practice flouted Act 852 which governed the scheme and violated 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 downtown”.
“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” Dr Aboagye warned.
He further explained that the practice had also culminated in the decline in membership enrolment and renewals over the past years despite numerous interventions such as mobile renewals, linkages between the NHIS card and the Ghana card to enhance portability and mass registration, among others.
However, Dr Aboagye Dacosta explained, “The medicines list and tariff are currently being reviewed to reflect the economic and epidemiological trends. The New tariff and Medicine list will soon be released after the necessary protocols”.
-BY Daniel Bampoe