West Akyem Health Insurance registers over 34,000 members

Asamankese, Sept. 4, GNA - The West Akyem District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme has registered a total of 34,103 with 24,106 of them enjoying the benefit of the scheme as at July, this year. The scheme has collected premiums totalling 563 million cedis with 6,565 members paying the approved annual premium of 72,000 cedis. Mr Stephen Asukpa Odame, the Scheme's Public Relationship Officer, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Asamankese said so far, the National Health Insurance Council(NHIC) had released an amount of 503 million cedis to the scheme to cover children under 18 years whose parents had paid their premiums and for those over 70 years and were exempted for paying premium.

He said the scheme had paid claims amounting to 1,233,661,054 cedis to health service providers as at June 31.

Other beneficiaries of the scheme are 2,856 Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributors, 96 pensioners, 97 indigents, 8,243 children under 18 years and 2,870 persons over 70 years of age.

The P.R.O. explained that the membership enrolment had increased by 200 per cent far above the scheme target for 2005/2006 registration season of 150 per cent increase.

The scheme had, meanwhile, presented 34 cards to Osenase Orphanage Home and 63 cards to the Ghana Blind Association members in the district as its social responsibility.

Mr Odame said the scheme had devised a new registration strategy by periodically undertaking mass registration exercises in areas where premium collectors were inactive.

He announced that the scheme was considering the possibility of making all children below six months to get free health care automatically.

Mr Odame expressed the scheme's appreciation to the West Akyem District Assembly for presenting it with two motor bikes and DANIDA for also donating a motor bike.

The PRO said the Assembly was also assisting the scheme to build a befitting office and had promised to assist the scheme with 50 million cedis to facilitate the printing of membership identity cards. Mr Osame, who appealed to the National Health Insurance Council to release a vehicle to it to facilitate the work of the scheme also suggested a means whereby registered scheme members could access health care anywhere in the country, to encourage more people to join the schemes.