NHIA warns against illegal health care charges
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has warned service providers to stop the illegal charging of NHIA clients at health facilities or be made to face the full rigours of the law.
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“The NHIA wants to put to an end the co-payment system or illegal charges at the health provider sites that are making the scheme unpopular. The NHIA has tremendously improved claims payment, and pays an average of GH¢180 million a month as claims reimbursements,” the Chief Executive Officer of the NHIA, Dr Dacosta Aboagye, has stated.
Dr Aboagye gave the warning when he inaugurated the Manya Krobo NHIA office at Nuaso, a suburb of Odumase-Krobo, in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region last Tuesday.
He said about GH¢171 million was paid last week to the mixed tiers, with the lower tier paid for January and February 2024, while the upper tier received up to November 2023 claims.
According to Dr Aboagye, the medicines list, and tariff and medicine list would soon be released after the necessary protocols.
Incentives
“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 severely sanctioned,” the CEO of the NHIA emphasised.
He said his focus, among others, would be to drive the promotion and implementation of preventive healthcare where members of NHIS would benefit from at least an annual medical checkup.
He explained that the NHIA was collaborating with the National Identification Authority (NIA) to issue Ghana card for persons aged six to 14 years, with the card integrated with NHIS member details so that the merged or linked Ghana Card would be used to access health care.
Government intervention
The Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Chief Executive, Simon Kweku Tetteh, said the NHIA had operated from four rented apartments in the municipality since its establishment in 2004.
That, he said, became a worry to the management, and it took the intervention of the current government to save the situation. Mr Tetteh said currently, the active membership of the scheme in the municipality stood at about 77,300.
In a related development, the CEO of the NHIA, Dr Aboagye and his entourage paid a courtesy call on the Akuapemhene, Osaedeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, and the traditional council at a Akropong.
The visit was to introduce himself to the Paramount Chief of the area as the new CEO of the NHIS. He briefed the traditional council on the current development of the NHIS, which, he said, needed to be taken seriously since it concerned their health.
The traditional council appreciated his effort, and pledged to collaborate with them when their NHIA office was started.