News:
February 29, 2020
The Minority on the Health Committee in Parliament are lamenting over the delay in the release of funds to service providers in the National Health Insurance Scheme and capping of funds.
According to the Minority on the Health Committee, government has no excuse in the delay of payment for such a long period as they are hoarding the money for reasons best known them.
Ranking member on the Committee, Mr. Kwabena Mintah AKandoh in addressing the media at a press conference noted that customers pay upfront the National Health Insurance Levy in the country.
He blamed the Ministry of Finance for the collapsing of the National Health Insurance Scheme and demanded that the Akufo-Addo led government immediately redeem its obligation under the law and release the funds to resuscitate the NHIS which is currently at the incentive care unit.
Again, the President in his SONA address in 2019 page 9 paragraph 3 said, “today our NHIS is buoyant as government has paid up to 1.2billion cedis arrears we inherited and brought the operation of NHIS back to life”.
While the President was talking of a buoyant NHIS there was a decline in active membership from 10.422 million in 2017 to 10.410 million in 2018.
The Minority noted that whiles the key stakeholders in the health insurance industry are getting financially suffocated as a result of delay in payment of the claim, the President, in the 2020 SONA at page 25 paragraph 3 line 4 describe the NHIS as operating more adequately.
“It is a demonstration of insensitivity to the plights of service providers and beneficiaries as some have decided to withdraw their services from NHIS, we share in their grievances and appeal to them for the sake of ordinary Ghanaians they should rescind their decision”.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com