The government, through the Ministry of Finance, has paid GH¢100 million as partial payment of arrears due to National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) service providers.
This follows a threat from the Association of Private Health Institutions of Ghana to partially withdraw its services if the government does not pay the nine months of arrears of claims.
Mr. Frank-Torblu Richard, Secretary General of the Association of Private Health Facilities in Ghana, told the GNA in an interview in Accra on Friday that the partial payment of GH¢100 million paid by the government was for health facilities. public and private health.
He still had 50 million GH¢ in arrears to pay.
On Tuesday, April 5, the Association of Private Health Institutions of Ghana held a press conference and demanded that the Government of Ghana release funds to the NHIA for immediate payment of claims to health service providers of all arrears until December 2021.
The claim included overdue payments due from certain health facilities for the period 2017 to 2020.
The association also demanded that the government restore the collection of the toll and direct any revenue made to support the Free Senior High School scheme to reduce the transfer or administrative transfer of revenue from the NHIS levy for other payments.
He demanded that the National Health Insurance Authority expedite the review of drug and service tariffs to reflect current market variables to allow health facilities to deliver the expected health care as envisaged by the NHIA.
And that, the NHIA Examination Committee should have equitable representation from the Association of Private Healthcare Facilities to ensure the quality of examination results.
“We request a formal engagement with the Ministry of Health and the various regulators of health establishments to review/modify the accreditation threshold on staffing needs and the possible assignment of health personnel to private establishments”, a- he declared.
He said that if the Authority fails to meet the deadlines set, it would not hesitate to partially withdraw services and that NHIS customers will have to pay the full cost of drugs covered by the scheme to NHIS customers nationwide. national as a survival strategy in these countries. difficult moments.
“From our candid view of recent events with the scheme, the Association of Private Health Facilities in Ghana, whose members are among the biggest beneficiaries of the scheme, portends disaster as we can confidently confirm no doubt that the national health insurance scheme is in a precarious position and in a serious state of financial distress which needs an immediate lifeline if it will survive as the only health care intervention in the service of the people of Ghana,” the Association said.
Source: GNA