Health providers under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in the Ashanti region are struggling to pay their workers due to months of unpaid claims.
The providers say they are compelled to lay off workers due to the delays in payments due them.
President of the Ashanti Regional National Health Insurance Service Providers Association, Sylvester Kankam Boateng, explained the NHIA owes some members of the association more than six months of arrears.
He lamented, “for two years counting, many of our providers have been on overdraft and as we speak, last month is long gone and some have still not been able to pay just salaries, not to talk of the electricity bills and other items we use in the hospitals.”
Mr. Boateng was worried their bankers have refused them further overdraft facilities due to their inability to pay off outstanding debts.
He says the problem is crippling the operations of the various hospitals and health centers offering the National Health Insurance Scheme.
Sylvester Kankam Boateng further pointed out that service providers in the Ashanti Region were being short-changed under the capitation system. He said payments for certain diseases per patient, falls short of payments advanced for the same disease in regions without capitation.
According to him, whereas treatment for malaria attracts a service charge of GHC11.71 in other regions, providers in Ashanti Region are paid just GHC 2.75 for treating malaria.
He was of the view that their health facilities were better off without the National Health Insurance Scheme.
Concerns of the health providers are shared by the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) whose health providers have given government up to July 2 to pay their outstanding arrears or see them withdraw their services to NHIS card bearing patients.
By: Afiba Anyanzua Anyanzu/citifmonline.com/Ghana