Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Nathaniel Otoo has promised to immediately license the Nsawam Prisons Infirmary to enable the correctional facility submit claims for inmates who are on the scheme.
[contextly_sidebar id=”h8cCD7Vf40GeYCaxjSyBzDKZPwE6pY4m”]Mr Otoo made the promise on Friday at the launch of the free NHIS registration program for all prison inmates in Ghana.
The NHIA boss’ promise came after the Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Madam Matilda Baffour-Awuah revealed that about one million Ghana cedis is annually expended on medical care alone for prison inmates across the country.
According to Mr Otoo, accrediting the Infirmary will help the Prisons Service submit claims to the NHIA and raise some resources to purchase essential medicines for the use of inmates. This he said will help cut down their cost of healthcare.
He also observed that the provision of NHIS cards to the inmates will take the burden of medical care cost from the Prisons Service.
Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister, Nana Oye Lithur who launched the program said the needs of inmates were equally important to government hence the effort to safeguard their healthcare needs.
She said the registration of the inmates is a collaboration her ministry is undertaking with the NHIA to ensure that all vulnerable and special groups have financial access to healthcare.
Oye Lithur said the Social Protection Ministry-NHIA partnership has provided about six thousand aged and vulnerable people access to NHIS cards for healthcare.
The Nsawam prison holds about three thousand inmates and according to the Minister, prisoners are wards of the state and it is the responsibility of government to ensure they have basic necessities of life such as healthcare.
Madam Oye Lithur mentioned that the exercise will continue till all inmates in the nation’s prisons receive their NHIS cards.
She was grateful to the NHIS for their assistance in the entire registration of the vulnerable citizens.
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana