Minority warns of return to Cash-and-Carry amid NHIS faces prolonged network breakdown

The Minority in Parliament has sounded the alarm over what it calls a creeping return to Ghana’s dreaded cash-and-carry healthcare system, blaming it on the prolonged breakdown of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

According to the caucus, the NHIS has been largely inactive for nearly two months, leaving hospitals unable to process claims and forcing patients to pay cash for medical services that should be covered under the scheme.

Raising the issue on the floor of Parliament, Second Deputy Minority Whip, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, said the situation is inflicting severe hardship on ordinary Ghanaians.

“As we speak today, the NHIS has not been functional for close to two months. Patients must pay before receiving treatment, and hospital system links have been deactivated. We have, unfortunately, reverted to the cash-and-carry system,” he lamented.

The Minority argues that the system failure reflects deeper problems within the health sector, including poor digital infrastructure, delayed payments to service providers, and weak supervision by the government.

Meanwhile, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has confirmed that a technical disruption has affected some electronic hospital management systems across the country.

In a statement issued on Sunday, October 26, the NHIA assured the public that it is working closely with the Ministry of Health and other partners to restore full system functionality “as soon as possible.”

The Authority also instructed all NHIS-accredited healthcare providers to continue serving patients without interruption, using the mobile-based Claims Check Code (CCC) platform as a temporary measure to verify patient eligibility.

However, with hospitals still demanding cash payments and system restoration dragging on, pressure is mounting on the government to act swiftly before the breakdown completely erodes confidence in Ghana’s national health insurance system.