LET'S EMBRACE HEALTH INSURANCE

IN 2003, the people of Ghana, through their representatives in Parliament, passed a law to provide the legal framework for a health financing system for the country.
The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is one of the major policy initiatives of the Kufuor administration designed to make it possible for everybody to have easy access to healthcare services.
All over the world, health insurance is a system that allows for the show of solidarity and support for one another for the common good. It simply enjoins all adults to make contributions to a fund which can be tapped into in the event of any illness of a premium holder for affordable health care.
The NHIS has been hailed as a progressive policy initiative to replace the obnoxious “cash-and-carry” system that caused many avoidable deaths because those in need of health services could not readily afford them.
Beneficiaries of the NHIS have publicly extolled the benefits inherent in the scheme and encouraged those yet to enrol to do so immediately.
Unfortunately, most of the people sitting on the fence have swallowed the propaganda that greeted the introduction of the NHIS as a scheme by the government just to gain electoral advantage. This category of people has forgotten that when it comes to illness, there is nothing like political affiliation.
Indeed, it will be good for the political parties themselves to encourage their members to pay the necessary premiums in order to benefit from the scheme, for, after all, the parties need healthy supporters to sustain their existence.
The good news is that in spite of the teething problems encountered by the NHIS, such as delays in the issuance of identity cards, the lack of accountability on the part of some officials of the district health insurance schemes and commissioned collectors of premiums, the scheme is facilitating better access to health care.
But, for now, more public education from the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) is required to get more people to enrol into the scheme. Such education programmes should take into account our cultural values because people hardly save towards their healthcare needs.
It is commendable that 42 per cent of the country’s population have been issued with ID cards, while a sizeable number of those registered are yet to be issued with the NHIS cards and the NHIA is urged to expedite action in that direction.
The NHIA should carry the campaign to workplaces so that all workers can also register and access health care to avoid the situation where by it will take months for their health claims to be paid by their employers.
Furthermore, the introduction of the new ID cards by the NHIA to enable premium holders to access health care from districts other than where they registered is a step in the right direction.
The authority should marshall all resources to ensure the success of the pilot phase of the new ID card regime so that it can be replicated throughout the country to reduce the burden that premium holders encounter in seeking health care in any part of the country.
The Daily Graphic is encouraged by the assurance by the Chief Executive Officer of the NHIA, Mr Ras A. Boateng, that “we are focused to implement the system to make it comparable to the best health insurance in any part of the world”.
Well said, but the task ahead is not going to be child’s play. It requires tenacity of purpose and a commitment to convince all Ghanaians that the NHIS has a comparative advantage over the “cash-and-carry system” in providing easy access to health care and building a functional health system.