The Board chair of the National Health Authority (NHIA), Ernest P.K. Kwarko, says the Authority pays an average monthly claim of GH¢170 million to cover 17.2 million registered members.
According to him, the current NHIA leadership has improved claims payment and technically, leaving one to two months of outstanding payments.
He was speaking at the first ever regional conference on financing Universal Health Coverage (UHC), organised under the theme: “Overcoming financial barriers and providing financial risk protection” in Accra, yesterday.
He said 90 percent (%) of claims are managed electronically “and we hope to be fully electronic by the close of the year.”
Dr. Kwarko indicated that the initiative would inject efficiency into claims management and reduce the turnaround time.
The Board Chair added that the Authority pays for healthcare services under the NHIS benefit package, which covers about 95% of the disease burden in Ghana.
“Every member enjoys this package, irrespective of the member’s socio-economic background to ensure equity. The NHIS recently expanded its benefits package to include four (4) Childhood Cancers, Hydroxyurea for the management of sickle cell disease and Herceptin for the management of breast cancer,” he stated.
Additionally, this reinforces that the commitment of the government would ensure that everyone who needs services gets them and to prevent people from falling into debt, in a bid to pay for healthcare and services.
Kweku Agyeman Manu, Minister for Health, on behalf of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, added that Ghana’s implementation of the National Health Insurance scheme has reformed its health financing architecture over the years.
He said the purchasing of health services is entrusted to the National Health Insurance Authority on behalf of the Ministry.
“A benefit package exists to ensure health service provision for the population by accredited health institutions. Our quality of life has improved, maternal and child health indicators have seen appreciable improvement, inequities exacerbated by limited access to health services have also improved.
“Twenty years down the line, we are still battling with exploring strategies to decrease costs for medical care, while expanding social insurance to cover the poor,” he said.
The minister stated that there is a need for reforms to improve the health security of the region, contribute significantly and impact positively towards preparedness and response to public health emergencies and contribute to the Global Health Security Agenda.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of World Health Organisation (WHO), in a video message stated that when health is at risk, everything is at risk, therefore, sustainable investment in Universal health is important.
He urged critical investment into primary health care, strengthened coordinator between sectors and facilitation of the required measures towards primary healthcare.
Prof Francis Chisaka KASOLO, WHO representative to Ghana, spelt out four critical areas that need attention and they are a scale up to the coverage of social protection mechanisms for people and the need to work in a comprehensive and inclusive manner.
The rest are continued to take every opportunity to advocate for increased investment in health and translate governments’ commitment to health into reality and improve efficiency in health spending and work to demonstrate impact with the existing resources.
He explained that as countries move into the middle-income category, donor inflows are reducing as is the case for countries like Ghana, Kenya and Congo.
Unfortunately, he noted this reduction is not being replaced by additional government funding for health, which threatens sustainability of programmes and health gains.
Rather, he said, it has exacerbated by the slowed economic growth as a result of multiple global crises.
