The Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners has announced it will from May 1, 2015, discontinue offering services to National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) subscribers.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”sR1iMjxDK4M9cU7b68k5qNpl2lT1ZtPI”]They are threatening to go through with their decision if debts owed them by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) are not paid by April 30, 2015.<\/p>\n
The Practitioners disclosed that they have not been paid by the Authority since august 2014 although they have still been rendering services to NHIS card bearers.<\/p>\n
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, the president of the group, Dr. Kwesi Odoi-Agyarkwa said they have exhausted all dialogue processes with the NIHA hence their resolve.<\/p>\n
He asked for an intervention from stakeholders to advocate on their behalf to get their debts paid.<\/p>\n
The group also asked their members to operate strictly according to the contract they have with the NHIA until the given deadline expires.<\/p>\n
Another resolve was also for members to discontinue serving NHIS card bearers if the money is not paid and also appealed to members to comply with the directives given.<\/p>\n
The Practitioners were however willing to give expert advise to help the Authority resolve its challenges.<\/p>\n
Dr. Kwesi Odoi-Agyarkwa made some proposals to the NHIA including adopting the co-payment system which has been adopted in other countries and has recorded success rates.<\/p>\n
They called for a dialogue to help NHIA work out effective strategies for the Capitation to be more effective.<\/p>\n
Several medical facilities have threatened to also withdraw their services but the management of the NHIA has given the assurance all debts will settled soon.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has been outspoken<\/strong><\/span><\/a> about the adverse effects of the NHIA’s indebtedness to health facilities.<\/p>\n It has been advocating for effective measures to be adopted<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>to curb the situation to save the nation’s health sector for possible collapse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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