Ketu - South NHIS on a drive to explain capitation

The Ketu-South Municipal Directorate of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), is adopting a hands-on approach, to bring along clients to fully accept capitation in Health Insurance.

“Hands-on in the sense that, during outreaches, correlations are graphic, home-grown” Mr Eric Afenyo, the NHIS, Ketu-South Manager told the Ghana News Agency (GNA, after a durbar at the Togbe Amenya Fiti’s Palace.

He said the Ketu-South approach was against the back drop of the months of uproar among clients of the NHIS when capitation was introduced in the Ashanti Region.

Mr Afenyo told the large audience that Capitation in Health Insurance was just like putting aside a specified amount of money from a regular income for a specific purpose.

He said in the case of Ghana, the proverbial “chop money,” is to the family budget, as Capitation is to a client of NHIS.

“Capitation in Health Insurance in Ghana as elsewhere, is simply giving some money to an accredited health facility in the name of a client.

“That money covers expenses incurred during visits to the Preferred Primary Provider (PPP) for health services,” Mr Afenyo stressed.

He said under the Capitation Scheme, where clients would select their own primary care providers, there was no preclusion of clients from being referred to the second and tertiary tier health facilities, when necessary.

Mr Afenyo said specialist treatments, for the eye, ears and other cases were still covered by the scheme.

For Mr Afenyo, Capitation “is a revolution in Ghana’s health insurance scheme to deliver quality service, leading ultimately to better health to large numbers of Ghanaians.”

He insisted, “Capitation is the best payment mechanism, assuring the NHIS Ketu-South overtures would overturn the skepticism of clients and bring them over to take their right places as the third stake in the trivet NHIS business-Scheme Managers, Service Providers and Clients.

Mr Afenyo said the message was being sent to the people directly by various means and that major durbars had been planned for the big communities including Agbozume, Blekusu and Klikor.

Togbe Amenya Fiti the Fifth, Paramount Chief of Aflao, urged clients to take Health Insurance seriously, and co-operate to make the Capitation Scheme work.

He urged authorities of the scheme to seriously engage service providers to improve services.

Togbe Fiti said the impression created at the facilities was that health insurance card holders were parasites and health providers, benefactors.

The Ketu-South Health Insurance Scheme membership is over 100,000.