[ 2016-11-25 ]

Find additional resources to support NHIS- Chief Justice urges government
The Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora
Wood, has called on the government to, as a matter
of urgency, look for additional sources of funding
to support the National Health Insurance Authority
(NHIA).
This, she said, was to enhance the financial
sufficiency of the NHIA and make it possible for
the authority to pay all outstanding debts owed
health facilities.

Opening the 13th Annual General and Scientific
Meeting (AGSM) of the Ghana College of Physicians
and Surgeons in Accra yesterday, the Chief Justice
said: “I wish to add my voice to appeals already
made to the government to find additional
resources in the short term to support the NHIA.
These additional funds should immediately go to
reimburse all those health facilities owed
outstanding claims, despite timely submissions on
their part,” she stated.

She was speaking on the theme: “Financing health
care in Ghana: The future of the National Health
Insurance Scheme”.

This year’s AGSM saw the admission and induction
of 147 newly qualified members and 30 new fellows
into the college. Additionally, a professor of
Gynaecology, Carolyn Johnston, was given an
honorary fellowship award for her exceptional role
in health care in Ghana and beyond.

Private participation

The Chief Justice further called for stronger
private participation in the provision of health
insurance for Ghanaians.

That, she said, would increase universal health
coverage, as well as widen the revenue
mobilisation network of the government in its
quest to find additional sources of funding for
the scheme.

“The combined effects of the NHIS, the private
commercial schemes and the private mutual schemes
are what will ultimately enable the country’s
quest for universal health coverage,” she
added.

Mrs Wood also indicated that access to quality
health care, with guaranteed financial protection,
could only be achieved if pragmatic steps were put
in place by the government in that regard, noting
that the NHIS was largely beneficial and that
nothing bad should be done to undermine people’s
confidence in it.

Sustaining the NHIS

The Director of the Institute of Statistical,
Social and Scientific Research (ISSER) of the
University of Ghana, Legon, Prof. Felix Ankomah
Asante, called for innovations in order to sustain
the scheme in the long term.

“The scheme must be active in its internally
generated funds (IGFs) and always rely on it, even
before it cries out for help from the
government,” he said, indicating that “it
should not in any way replace government’s
subvention or support to the scheme”.

Prof. Asante also reiterated the call on the
government to strengthen the public/private
partnership (PPP) arrangements it had with some
private institutions, saying that it was the way
to go.

NHIS is robust

The Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia, said the
NHIS was robust and attracting a lot of
participation from Ghanaians.

Last year, for instance, he said, out-patient
utilisation of the NHIS rose to 29 million from
16.6 million in 2009.

For his part, the Rector of the college, Prof.
Jacob Plange-Rhule, congratulated the newly
inducted members and urged them to be good
ambassadors of the college.

Source - Graphiconline

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