NHIA disburses GH¢180m to healthcare facilities

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has disbursed GH¢180 million to various categories of healthcare providers across the country.

The amount is predominantly the payment for claims submitted by providers under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and vetted for up to December last year.

It said by the current payment, the NHIS was on track and was not in arrears as it stayed within the accepted 90-day window for the payment of vetted claims.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NHIA, Dr Da-Costa Aboagye, made this known in a statement yesterday.

Providing some details on the disbursement, the authority said the payments included GH¢10.57 million claims from January to July last year, which was submitted on March 19, 2024.

It said out of the amount, GH¢9 million represented claims paid for August last year, which were also submitted on March 19, 2024.

The other payments for last year, which were all submitted on March 19, 2024, were GH¢35.07 million, representing claims for September; GH¢103.46 million for October; GH¢12.56 million for November and GH¢7.05 million for December.

The NHIA added that it also paid arrears for 2020, 2021 and 2022 amounting to GH¢2.25 million.

Mandate

The payments were in fulfilment of the NHIA’s mandate as a payer of healthcare services for disease conditions prescribed in the NHIS Benefit Package.

“The NHIS Benefit Package covers over 95 per cent of disease conditions that afflict residents and is supported with over 550 formulations on the NHIS medicines list to take care of all the diseases covered under the scheme,” the statement said.

“Management of the scheme assures the public of its commitment to ensuring that quality healthcare is delivered to all its members,” it added.

The NHIA said as a result of recent economic conditions, the authority, in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service, the Christian Health Association of Ghana and other stakeholders, was comprehensively reviewing the NHIS medicines tariffs for appropriate adjustments to be considered in order to make providers viable on the scheme.

It said as part of measures to eradicate illegal fees and extortions demanded from vulnerable NHIS members at some healthcare facilities, the NHIA and key stakeholders had resolved to increase public education about the Scheme and its Benefit Package, promote the entitlement of NHIS Members, and conduct more community engagements to deepen understanding, buy-in and ownership of the NHIS.

“We entreat all NHIS members to report any incidents of illegal charges or extortions to your local NHIS District Office, the Call Centre on 6447 (MTN &Vodafone), or via our official social media handles (NHIS Ghana) for redress,” the statement said.

It further urged the public to download the MyNHIS App on Google Play or App Store to register themselves and others with the use of a Ghana Card.
Alternatively, subscribers could renew their membership by dialling *929# and following the prompts, the NHIA added.

Writer’s email: doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh