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06.03.2014 General News

NHIA to sanitise prescription claims and payment regime

06.03.2014 LISTEN
By Mary Mensah / Daily Graphic / Ghana

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) is to introduce a new prescription form to sanitise the prescription claims and payment regime.

It has also rolled out the instant issuance of ID cards based on biometric data.

Speaking at the 2014 Stakeholders Meeting of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NHIA, Mr Sylvester Mensah, said that formed part of the numerous key initiatives running concurrently and driving change and improvement of the national health insurance scheme (NHIS).

The meeting was on the theme: “Sustaining The NHIS- Our Collective Responsibility”.

The co-operation
Mr Mensah said the NHIA cherished the co-operation, collaboration and support of all stakeholders without whom they could not have been where they were today. 

Mr Mensah announced that the NHIA had developed a roadmap to redefine its future for the period between January 2015 and December 2018.

“We continue to keep our eyes on abuse and fraud in the management of the scheme and are happy on the progress we are making even though a lot more requires to be done”, he said.

Short period 
According to him, in the relatively short period of implementation, the NHIS had made significant progress and had engaged the attention of institutions, governments, researchers and the international healthcare community at large. 

He said it had also sustained a healthcare industry involving more than 3500 healthcare providers and numerous suppliers.

Challenges
The CEO said despite some challenges, the NHIS had emerged as a model of financial risk protection for millions of people. 

Currently, the scheme caters for up to nine million active subscribers with access to a benefit package which is considered generous by global standards. 

Mr Mensah said the growth in membership and utilisation of healthcare might be cited as indicators of expansion as the scheme geared towards universal health coverage, adding that currently, the NHIS had become a hub for knowledge and experience sharing, attracting delegations from various foreign countries and institutions.

All Schemes
Mr Mensah explained that  with the roll out of instant issuance of ID cards, all schemes in the Greater Accra Region have been migrated onto the instant ID card issuance and eight out of 13 schemes in the Central Region had joined, together with Upper East and West as well as Volta regions. 

The Minister of Health, Ms Sherry Ayitey, urged the NHIA to expedite the process of the scheme so that complains about the delay in card issuance would be consigned to history.

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