Dr. Lydia Dsane-Selby, acting CEO of NHIS
Private health providers have served notice that they will soon implement a co-payment system for healthcare if government fails to reimburse claims under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on time.
Under co-payment system, the cost of healthcare is shared between the patient and healthcare purchaser.
The group earlier threatened legal action against government for failing to pay them 10 months accumulated arrears.
The Public Relation Officer (PRO) for Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana (PHFAG), Samuel Donkor, said they are likely to adopt the co-payment system if the government fails to settle outstanding monies.
“Within these two weeks if they don’t pay us, then we go the co-payment, so that at least we could survive. We don’t close down like the way others are closing down. Some of us have really closed down due to this problem they have closed down and they don’t want to work again because they don’t want to go through this frustration. Those of us who are surviving too. If the government doesn’t pay us then we cannot do anything but go through this co-payment,” he disclosed.
In May 2019, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Samuel Annor, warned that the NHIS may suffer because of financing challenges.
Responding to concerns from the PHFAG that the NHIS would be dead in a year’s time, he said, “I wouldn’t say die but we would not be rendering the service we are supposed to render. Between 2009 and now, we have just been piling debts.”