NHIA issued 14-day ultimatum to reveal health facilities it had paid arrears

The Pharmaceutical Importers and Wholesalers Association (PIWA) says it has given the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) a 14 working-day ultimatum to furnish them with the list of health facilities it had paid to enable its members to access their one-year arrears.

According to a statement issued by the Executive Secretary of PIWA and sighted by GhanaWeb, contrary to claims by the NHIA that it had authorized disbursement, some health facilities across the country have denied any payment from the NHIA following their locked-up funds in a number of facilities.

Executive Secretary for PIWA, Joe Fiifi Yamoah, noted; “Failing this, we would advise ourselves on the next line of action to take to ensure that these health facilities settle their indebtedness to all our members.”

“We therefore request that the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service and the National Health Insurance Scheme to provide us with the list of payments they claim to have made to health facilities to enable us claim our over one year arrears so as not to compel us to take legal action against the affected health facilities,” the statement said.

The statement added that members of PIWA have constantly been faced with the threat of laying off staff and closure of businesses which is detrimental to the nature of their business with some placing in bids to access the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) which is expected to kick off this year.

“Since the NHIS itself is under the Ministry of Health, we would want the Minister of Health and the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to aid us in unraveling the truth to avoid any friction between us and the NHIS,” it further added.

The association also says there was an existing three-month waiting period within which health facilities processed their claims for onward submission to the NHIA for payments and for the NHIA to admit they owed six months arrears was totally unacceptable.

“Any delay in our payments adversely affects the credibility we have with our bankers and suppliers both locally and foreign which does not augur well for the growth of any business,” it held.

Earlier last month, the Chamber of Pharmacy Ghana served notice to its members that it would no longer continue to supply drugs and medicines on credit to National Health Insurance accredited health facilities.

According to the Chamber, it will withdraw its services following indebtedness by the service providers and will only rescind its decision until their debts are paid in full.