NHIS NOT COLLAPSED-DPTY MOH
The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Victor Bampoe says although the
National Health Insurance Scheme is bedeviled with a number of challenges
ranging from financial to technical, operational and managerial inefficiencies,
it has not collapsed as being perceived by a cross-section of the public.
According
to him, Government recognizes the need to critically assess the framework of
the NHIS policy to fine-tune it for enhanced healthcare delivery.
It is in this
regard that the National Health Insurance Technical Review Committee was constituted
to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the Scheme and suggest realistic
inputs for onward scrutiny and approval by Cabinet.
This according to Dr.
Bampoe would ultimately reshape and restore confidence in the scheme as a
critical national social protection policy.
He has therefore implored all actors
along the health delivery chain including the Christian Health Association of Ghana
to complement government efforts aimed at restructuring the scheme for the
benefit of the entire nation.
The Deputy Minister of Health made these remarks
at the opening of the 48th Annual Conference of the Christian Health
Association of Ghana, CHAG in Kumasi. Our reporter Kofi Saarkwah has the rest
of the story.
The 3-day
conference is being attended by over 300 delegates from across the country under
the theme; “Financial Sustainability of CHAG at all levels, How Can We Do
Things Differently?”.
Deputy Health
Minister, Dr. Victor Bampoe commended the Christian Health Association of Ghana
for sticking to core Christian values over the years to deliver quality
healthcare to the citizenry especially during industrial actions by the Ghana
Medical Association among other health workers.
He assured also that Government
would continue to make the required investments into the NHIS to maintain its
status as one of the most efficient health delivery systems in the West Africa sub-region
and beyond.
The Executive Director of CHAG, Peter Yeboah
emphasized that government’s recent withdrawal of subsidies on utility bills, the
delay in payment of NHIS claims as well as the continued decrease in technical
and financial donor support has adversely affected the operational capacities
of member health facilities.
In a keynote
address, a former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Reverend
Dr. Fred Deegbe highlighted four thematic areas required by CHAG to positively
influence their financial sustainability drive.
They are income diversification
of operations, sound financial administration, effective team management and
re-orientation of member health facilities from not-for-profit to not-for-loss
organizations.
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