Stakeholders of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) have called for the benefit package for subscribers to be reviewed to ensure the sustainability of the scheme.
The call was made during the NHIS stakeholder dialogue on Thursday.
The dialogue was to enable them deliberate and suggest possible ways of reforming benefits offered to card-bearing members of the scheme.
[contextly_sidebar id=”DATyNfao0s43FwtvyPF7oQW6lI4MxvhD”]The stakeholders also urged the managers of the scheme to consider placing a ceiling on the benefits.
A section of the stakeholders at the forum also opined that the NHIS must take seriously, the subject of equity in reviewing its benefits package because according to them, the scheme must focus on reaching more people especially the poor and not necessarily focusing on uncommon and expensive treatments.
Under the current NHIS law, some 70% of subscribers do not pay premiums because they fall within the exempt category.
These include persons below 18 years old, pregnant women, SSNIT contributors, SSNIT pensioners and people above 70 years of age.
Chief Executive of the NHIA, Sylvester Mensah addressing the gathering said the “time has come for us to re-look at our benefit package in a manner that will ensure quality of care and make the NHIS buoyant.”
Deputy Finance Minister Mona Quartey assured the gathering that her outfit will ensure the timely release of funds to ensure the scheme is sustained.
The dialogue was under the auspices of the Minister of Health, Dr Kweku Agyeman-Mensah.
The Stakeholder Dialogue was organized to discuss the over 10 year old NHIS benefit package with the view to eliciting views and responses from stakeholders to make the package more equitable, evidence-based and sustainable.
The forum was on the theme, “an equitable and sustainable benefit package based on evidence.”
In attendance were many former health ministers including Dr Kweku Afriyie, Dr Richard Anane, Joseph Yieleh Chireh.
The rest are Mona Quartey, Deputy Finance Minister and Dr Victor Asare Bampoe, Deputy Health Minister, Dr Kwabena Opoku Adusei, President of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, MP for Manhyia South among others.
The event was also attended by health policy experts, researchers, people from business and academia, various provider groups and civil society organizations.
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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com