SIC to introduce health insurance scheme

THE State Insurance Company (SIC) will introduce a health insurance scheme in April to complement the one to be implemented by the government next month.

It did not give details about the premium to be paid by the people but said all players in the economy, including the formal and informal sectors, will be involved.

The Managing Director of the SIC, Mr Peter Osei-Duah, made this known when he presented separate cheques totalling ? 30 million to three institutions in Accra yesterday. The Ghana National Trust Fund (GNTF) received ?10 million, Ghana Heart Foundation, ? 15 million, while the Korle-Bu Rehabilitation Fund was given ?5 million. Mr Osei-Duah said the scheme is to be piloted in Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.

He gave the assurance that the scheme will be flexible to take into account the incomes of all persons. Mr Osei-Duah said the scheme will also encourage Ghanaians abroad to contribute to the initiative to support their relatives.

He said it has been difficult to implement the scheme because the majority of the country's workforce are in the informal sector and it is difficult to regulate their premiums.

He said the company is training personnel and acquiring software that will help in the implementation of the scheme.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the GNTF, Mr Michael Ezan, who received the donation on behalf of the fund, ,said the GNTF has pledged an amount of ?50 million towards easing pressures on women prisoners who are nursing babies.

He said the Nsawam Prison will be the first to receive the support to enhance the special unit for pregnant and lactating mothers in prisons.

Mr Ezan noted that the fund is seeking innovative ways of raising funds for the long term sustenance of the programme.

A Consultant Cadiothorasic Surgeon at Korle-Bu, Dr Lawrence Sereboe, who received the donation on behalf of the Ghana Heart Foundation and the Korle-Bu Rehabilitation Fund, expressed the gratitude of the two institutions to the SIC.

He urged corporate bodies to make use of the executive clinic instituted at the unit to tackle the health problems of executives whose schedules are very tight.