Ho Municipal Health Insurance Scheme becoming attractive

Ho, May 22, GNA - The offices of the Ho District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme is bubbling with activity as people rush in for their membership cards in order to access free health care.

Many of those who queued up for their cards had filled registration forms between December last year and March this year and had been waiting because of a lull in the printing of cards.

Among those pursing their cards were those who had called at the Insurance Secretariat to fill in forms to join the scheme. Mr Prosper Pi-Bansah, the Scheme Manager, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Monday that an average of 20 new applicants are registered everyday in Ho while others are registered by the agents spread across the coverage area of the scheme that extends to the newly created Adaklu-Anyigbe District.

Mr Pi-Bansa said while the scheme had taken off smoothly and spending so far had been within limits, management noticed certain abuses of the system and this needed to be addressed to keep things on track.

These include the unwarranted and multiple reports at health facilities for the treatment of "cooked up cases".

He also complained about the jumping of the structural health delivery order by going first to the tertiary hospitals instead of the primary health delivery facilities. On the concerns raised by clients that certain drugs were not included in the list of drugs dispensed, Mr Pi- Bansah said the Ghana Health Service (GHS) had an essential drugs list from which prescriptions were made and includes drugs for all ailments covered under the scheme.

He expressed regret that people waited till they were sick before going to the Health Insurance Secretariat, expecting to have the membership cards issued there and then.

Mr Pi-Bansah said as with all health insurance schemes it would take sometime to iron out some of the problems, especially regarding conceptual misrepresentations in the minds of people.

Mr Stanley Ntem, Management Systems Manager of the Scheme, said people had to be persuaded to get members to pay premiums that reflected their real incomes. In the past many who called to register insisted on paying the minimum sum of 72,000 cedis. 22 May 06