Nationwide Mutual Healthcare takes services outside Ghana
Nationwide Mutual Healthcare, in collaboration with international healthcare insurers, is to introduce a scheme which will enable members to have access to in-patient healthcare benefits throughout Africa and some parts of the world.
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Plans are also far advanced to expand the scheme to the mass market at low and affordable prices to enable more people to enrol on the scheme.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, the Chairman of Nationwide, Mr Harold Q. Awuah Darko, said in connection with the 10th anniversary of the company this year, it had come out with more innovations to make members more comfortable.
Medical Referrals to South Africa and India
He said Nationwide offered ideal elective healthcare assistance to individuals who want to access healthcare services in South Africa or India by arranging for personal referral appointments and follow-ups to ensure a hassle-free referral for individuals.
“Our competent healthcare managers, Brainwave Medical Travel and The Fortis Group of South Africa and India respectively, secure on your behalf requisite medical team and appropriate facilities to handle healthcare needs, as well as accommodation,” he said.
He said Nationwide intended to expand its customer base in the future to become a credible alternative to the National Health Insurance Scheme.
Beginning of scheme
He said when the scheme started operations in 2004, it was difficult to convince people to buy into it and all stakeholders had to be educated to understand what the whole idea was about.
The Ghana International School (GIS), he said, was the first corporate organisation in the country to register with Nationwide and had been consistent with registration for the past 10 years.
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According to him, since its inception, the scheme has been able to register over 300 corporate clients and about 50,000 individuals across the length and breadth of the country.
He said the individual subscription to Nationwide was designed for families of three or more and not singles, hence the intention to widen the horizon to rope in more people.
Challenges
He said some health insurance operators were under-pricing in order to get a share of the market and as a result they were not able to meet their payment promptly and that was tarnishing the image of the private schemes.
He thanked members of the scheme for their initial loyalty throughout initial difficulties.
Establishment
Nationwide is a private mutual health insurance scheme promoted by the Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners (SPMDP) in 2003 to provide comprehensive health care, with a vision to be the dominant financier of healthcare services in the private medical sector.
It has a network of healthcare service providers in the 10 regions of the country, providing a range of healthcare services to its numerous clients.
The five main products under the scheme are family health insurance, referral to South Africa, corporate health insurance, international health insurance and third-party administration.