FRONT PAGE STORY (DAILY GRAPHIC)
Story: Fauziatu Adam
THE number of Ghanaians who have been registered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is generating controversy between the NHIS and four non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
While the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) claims that about 65 per cent of Ghanaians are registered under the scheme, the four NGOs say only 18 per cent of Ghanaians are registered under it.
According to them, what was even more alarming was that 64 per cent of the rich in the country had been registered under the scheme, compared to just 29 per cent of the poor.
The NGOs are the International Social Development Centre (ISODEC), the Alliance for Reproductive Health (ARH), Essential Platform and the international aid agency, Oxfam.
The NGOs challenged the registration figures of the NHIS and made a scathing overview of the scheme at the launch of the universal access to quality health care advocacy paper in Accra on Wednesday.
The executive summary of the report stated that although every Ghanaian paid for the NHIS through VAT, as many as 82 per cent remained excluded from the scheme.
The report said those excluded from the NHIS still paid user fees in the cash-and-carry system and indicated that 25 years after fees for health was introduced by the World Bank, millions of citizens were being excluded from health care.
It estimated that 36 per cent of health spending was wasted due to inefficiencies and poor investments.
"Moving away from health insurance administration alone could save US$83 million each year, enough to pay 23,000 nurses," it further stated.
The report suggested that the government could afford to increase spending on health by 200 per cent to US$54 per capita by 2015 through savings, good quality aid but primarily through improved progressive taxation of Ghana's own resources, especially oil.
Contesting the report, the Deputy Corporate Affairs Manager of the NHIA, Mr Ametor Quarme, told the Daily Graphic that the claim by the NGOs that only 18 per cent of Ghanaians had registered under the NHIS could not be accurate.
From the records of the NHIA, he said, as many as 15.5 million people, representing 65 per cent of the population, had registered under scheme.
He said it was unfortunate that the NGOs did not contact the NHIA for any information, nor did their report disclose the source of the information which formed the basis for their conclusions.
Mr Quarme said the NHIA registered children under 18 in the name of their mothers and gave them one card, noting that the NGOs might have failed to take into account that arrangement.
On the issue of the registration of more rich people than the poor, Mr Quarme said the NHIA did not register policy holders on the basis of their economic and financial situation.
Story: Fauziatu Adam
THE number of Ghanaians who have been registered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is generating controversy between the NHIS and four non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
While the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) claims that about 65 per cent of Ghanaians are registered under the scheme, the four NGOs say only 18 per cent of Ghanaians are registered under it.
According to them, what was even more alarming was that 64 per cent of the rich in the country had been registered under the scheme, compared to just 29 per cent of the poor.
The NGOs are the International Social Development Centre (ISODEC), the Alliance for Reproductive Health (ARH), Essential Platform and the international aid agency, Oxfam.
The NGOs challenged the registration figures of the NHIS and made a scathing overview of the scheme at the launch of the universal access to quality health care advocacy paper in Accra on Wednesday.
The executive summary of the report stated that although every Ghanaian paid for the NHIS through VAT, as many as 82 per cent remained excluded from the scheme.
The report said those excluded from the NHIS still paid user fees in the cash-and-carry system and indicated that 25 years after fees for health was introduced by the World Bank, millions of citizens were being excluded from health care.
It estimated that 36 per cent of health spending was wasted due to inefficiencies and poor investments.
"Moving away from health insurance administration alone could save US$83 million each year, enough to pay 23,000 nurses," it further stated.
The report suggested that the government could afford to increase spending on health by 200 per cent to US$54 per capita by 2015 through savings, good quality aid but primarily through improved progressive taxation of Ghana's own resources, especially oil.
Contesting the report, the Deputy Corporate Affairs Manager of the NHIA, Mr Ametor Quarme, told the Daily Graphic that the claim by the NGOs that only 18 per cent of Ghanaians had registered under the NHIS could not be accurate.
From the records of the NHIA, he said, as many as 15.5 million people, representing 65 per cent of the population, had registered under scheme.
He said it was unfortunate that the NGOs did not contact the NHIA for any information, nor did their report disclose the source of the information which formed the basis for their conclusions.
Mr Quarme said the NHIA registered children under 18 in the name of their mothers and gave them one card, noting that the NGOs might have failed to take into account that arrangement.
On the issue of the registration of more rich people than the poor, Mr Quarme said the NHIA did not register policy holders on the basis of their economic and financial situation.
