{"id":225175,"date":"2016-06-24T13:00:06","date_gmt":"2016-06-24T13:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=225175"},"modified":"2016-06-24T13:00:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-24T13:00:06","slug":"reviewing-nhis-cttee-pushes-for-guaranteed-primary-healthcare-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/06\/reviewing-nhis-cttee-pushes-for-guaranteed-primary-healthcare-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviewing NHIS: C\u2019ttee pushes for guaranteed primary healthcare for all"},"content":{"rendered":"
The President\u2019s technical committee tasked to review the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has recommended a guaranteed universal primary healthcare basket for all residents in Ghana.<\/p>\n
The committee has also proposed that, given the strides the country has made in maternal and child mortality and morbidity, a package of maternal and child healthcare should also be guaranteed, to consolidate those gains.
\nThis is the first ever major review in the 13-year history of the scheme.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the technical committee, Dr. Chris Atim who revealed this on Tuesday at a national stakeholder consultative meeting in Accra said, \u201cthe fundamental premise of this redesign is that, the NHIL (or earmarked 2.5% VAT), which is the most important source of financing for the NHIS, is collected from all Ghanaians, and should be used to fund services that benefit the whole population and not a minority as at present.\u201d<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”Kxu1qh3ob6OlJzCGTyNpKQ6zTbkJqJUL”]The proposal which categorizes the benefit of the NHIS into a two-tier system, thus guaranteed primary healthcare and secondary-tertiary healthcare, states that NHIS cards will only be required when seeking care outside the defined primary healthcare basket which essentially are conditions in the second tier of the proposed redesign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe committee\u2019s recommendation of a universally guaranteed primary healthcare package of services, if accepted, means that possession of the NHIS card will no longer be necessary to access this primary healthcare package, though identification will still be required. Membership of the NHIS will only be required if the service sought by a person is outside the primary healthcare basket,\u201d Dr Atim averred.<\/p>\n
According to the committee, in order that this recommendation of universal access does not lead the NHIS to the same pitfalls of the free healthcare system of the immediate post-colonial era, individuals must identify themselves at the health facility with any recognized national identification card in order to access this universal package. This is to help track utilization, data about which the providers must transmit to the NHIA whether the service is capitated or not, and to minimize abuses of the system.<\/p>\n