The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) owed healthcare providers an estimated GH¢270 million as of February this year, the acting Chief Executive Officer of the authority, Mr Nathaniel Otoo, has said.
He remarked that there were delays in payment due to some structural and financial challenges which he said were being addressed.
Speaking at a media interaction in Accra Tuesdady, Mr Otoo explained that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was required to process monthly claims from service providers within 60 days, adding that the authority incurred GH¢93 million monthly as cost of healthcare services.
Premiums
He said the authority had made proposals to review premiums and added that the processing fee for the NHIS card would soon be increased.
He stated, however, that the authority had taken note of the fact that an increase in premiums could deter 40 per cent of the population who were non-members from registering with the scheme.
Mr Otoo reiterated that the elderly, the poor, the mentally retarded and children below 18 were exempted from paying premium.
Innovations
He hinted that the authority planned to develop a mobile application that would educate members of the NHIS on medicines that had been listed on the scheme.
He said the initiative would enable clients to have an idea of the medicines that were covered under the scheme.
Most patients, he said, faced challenges regarding the drugs they were supposed to purchase and those to be covered by the scheme.
He explained that the NHIA’s outlook for this year was to control escalatory claims, complete the nationwide roll out of biometric identification cards and also scale-up electronic claims management.
Mr Otoo further indicated that the Ministry of Health would conduct a full-scale review and reform into critical areas of the scheme in two weeks.
