18 Million citizens registered onto NHIS
About 18 million citizens, representing 55 per cent of the population, are active members of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The Director of Corporate Affairs at the NHIS, Oswald Essuah Mensah, said the scheme targeted some 21 million members by the end of 2025, increasing national coverage to 62 per cent.
He made this known at a community durbar in Accra on the theme: “Bringing healthcare closer to the people: The role of NHIS in coastal communities.”
The event, which climaxed a month-long outreach programme, was aimed at bringing NHIS services directly to the informal sector, particularly traders in market spaces, to promote registration and renewals.
It featured the registration and renewals of NHIS cards for free, including free health screening exercise.
Healthcare
Mr Mensah explained that the outreach formed part of efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by breaking down access barriers and increasing education on the scheme's benefits.
“We are bringing the scheme to the people to increase active membership and ensure they understand that health care should not be out of pocket,” he said.
He said the initiative targets first-time enrollees and existing members whose cards may have expired.
Mr Mensah acknowledged that the scheme's primary challenge was illegal demand for out-of-pocket payments by some healthcare providers.
He said the NHIS management had instituted a task force to monitor and reduce such charges to address this.
“We are paying providers frequently, over GH¢1.5 billion has already been disbursed this year. Monthly payments range between GH¢200 and GH¢300 million. We are also reviewing tariffs to make them more realistic,” he said.
Initiatives
Mr Mensah also mentioned the government’s plan to introduce Free Primary Healthcare and the Mahama Care initiative to complement NHIS coverage.
While Mahama Care will focus on chronic and renal conditions, Free Primary Healthcare will ensure access to basic services at community and district health levels without cost.
“These policies are being finalised, and implementation will soon begin,” he said.
He urged the public to check their NHIS status and renew their membership and said that annual contributions remain as low as GH¢30 for non-SSNIT contributors.
Innovations
The Deputy Director in charge of Provider and Client Relations of the service, Hamdiya Amadu Yakubu, explained that the outreach focused on two key objectives: Education and membership growth.
“We noticed market women don’t have the time to visit our offices or even use mobile phones to renew. So we brought them registration services and even basic medication right at their stalls,” she said.
For her part, the Member of Parliament for North Dayi, Joycelyn Quashie, who represented the CEO of the St Martin’s Memorial Hospital, described the NHIS as one of Ghana’s most transformative social policies.
“It has removed financial barriers for countless families, empowered patients to seek care with dignity and provided access to essential services from childhood immunisations to treatment for chronic illnesses,” she said.
