Legal and operational issues identified in NHIS

Accra, Oct. 8, GNA - The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) on Thursday said 59 legal and 108 implementation and operational issues have been identified in the operations of the Scheme. In a presentation to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health in Accra on the theme, "Change We Must and Yes We Can", a consultant, Dr Raymond Atuguba, said the research was conducted among stakeholders across the country.

He explained that the Act setting up the Scheme empowered districts to set up their own schemes, which made them autonomous and thereby making directives from the NHIA clash with those from the boards of the district schemes. He said some operational issues that had come up were the issuance of identity cards, and noted that though the card could be issued within three months, the Act and Legislative Instruments 1089 mandated the NHIA to do so within six months . The meeting with the Parliamentarians was therefore to solicit their assistance and input into the draft document that seeks to review and amend the law that set up the scheme.

The Executive Secretary of the NHIA, Mr. Sylvester Mensah, said the revision of the law was a topical issue due to the increasing demand for quality health care and government wanted to ensure that the current provisions under the law were improved for the better. "There have been achievements and challenges," he said, and admitted that the one-time payment had implications for strategy and structure. The revision of the law was to take account of all complications that would emerge, he added.