Chag asks for timelines in debt repayment
The Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) has asked the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to give health service providers a clear plan on reimbursement of validated claims served on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
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The Executive Director of CHAG, Mr Peter K. Yeboah, made the request in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra.
He stated: “CHAG is demanding a reimbursement plan with timelines in order for it to ascertain when and how money owed it would be paid.”
Debts
The request follows an earlier distress call sent out by the CHAG to the NHIA urging that institutions which have rendered services to the NHIA must be reimbursed.
The NHIA is said to owe institutions under CHAG over GH¢100 million over a period of 11 months.
Mr Yeboah explained that the debts had gone beyond the limit and perseverance of the system, demanding that it be treated as a matter of national priority and solutions found quickly.
NHIS still the best
Mr Yeboah said the CHAG still considered the NHIS as the best poverty intervention mechanism the country had ever had “and institutions that are owed by the service must be reimbursed.”
“The NHIS represents an important national treasure and an important social safety net for the country. Because of this, it is widely acclaimed as the best poverty alleviation procedure the country has ever had,” he added.
He added that currently there was loss of confidence in the country’s healthcare systems by patients and members of the public who had NHIS cards.
He indicated that suppliers were on the heels of healthcare providers to pay for items the health institutions had received.
Meanwhile, some health institutions are before the law courts for reneging on their commitment to pay debts they owe.
Mr Yeboah said CHAG supported the call for the NHIS to be overhauled in order for it to meet challenges it faced.
“We strongly support the call for the NHIS to be reviewed, revised and restructured so it could be more responsive to the needs of the public,” he said.
Mr Yeboah also mentioned that some institutions of CHAG were owing huge utility bills, some dating as far back as two years ago when the government withdrew from paying utility bills for health institutions.
He said healthcare facilities of the CHAG had been hard hit by the government’s withdrawal because there were a number of employees of the institutions who were not on mechanised payroll system and were paid from internally generated funds.
Error-free claims
“As institutions, we always ensure to submit error-free claims,” he said, and explained that there were several processes at the NHIS that ensured that error-free claims were upheld.
He stated with pride that of all healthcare providers signed onto the NHIS, the CHAG was the topmost provider with very little errors on claims it submitted.
“As an institution with ethics, we always uphold principles of accountability, transparency, cooperation and partnership,” he said, and added that CHAG would always support the NHIS to be efficient, effective and robust.
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