Cash-and-carry will be phased out gradually – Health Ministry

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Wednesday that efforts were underway to replace the cash-and-carry system but this would be done gradually.

Reacting to media reports on the system, the MOH said recent media reports indicating that the proposed Health Insurance Scheme would replace the cash-and-carry system by the end of March 2002 were not "wholly accurate."

After the law was passed, some preparatory activities would be required to enable the health insurance law to be fully implemented, a statement signed in Accra by Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Health, said.

The statement noted public concern on the disadvantages of the cash-and-carry system and said the Ministry would intensify policy dialogue on the Health Insurance Draft Bill to include all stakeholders.

It said the legislative process involved would begin after the policy dialogue and expressed the hope that Parliament would be able to pass the law by March 2002.

"Obviously, it is not for those outside Parliament to determine the deadline for passing the bill into an act. "It is therefore not prudent to talk about replacing 'cash-and-carry' by the end of March 2002."

The statement said the elimination of the system was not going to take place overnight, explaining that while the different components of the new financing system were being developed, a mechanism would be put in place to gradually phase out the system within the first term of the government.

Giving the background of the scheme, the statement said the MOH would adopt a multiple scheme strategy, which takes cognisance of the social context, which makes it impossible to have a single health insurance scheme.

Components of the health insurance scheme would be made up of insurance for the formal sector, community-based healthcare financing for the rural communities, informal sector schemes for trades and artisans groups and a scheme for the aged among others in view of affordability.