The Director of Communication of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah has said the flagbearer of the NPP Dr Mahamudu Bawumia will do more to deepen coverage under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and health outcomes for Ghanaians.
His comment comes at a time when the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has announced that contributors to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) are now exempt from paying registration and renewal fees for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
In a post on his X platform, he said “The National Health Insurance Authority has eliminated the registration and renewal fees for NHIS subscribers who are SSNIT contributors. This means that SSNIT contributors will now be automatically enrolled in the scheme using their Ghana Card PIN without paying any fees.
“This move is expected to extend healthcare access to an additional 1.3 million Ghanaians who are SSNIT contributors but are not yet part of the health insurance scheme. Bawumia’s Bold Solutions will do even more to deepen coverage under the scheme and health outcomes for Ghanaians. This is not only a possibility; it’s a certainty!”
In its quest to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has scrapped processing fees paid by SSNIT contributors.
In a speech to staff from the Eastern, Oti and Volta Regions, the Chief Executive, Dr. Da-Costa Aboagye made this known that the Board had approved the scrapping of fees for SSNIT contributors as a way to cause easier integration of that category to expand the Scheme.
Dr. Aboagye went further to explain the rationale of his four-point vision aimed at making the Scheme attractive to all tax payers, increasing active membership, inculcating a healthier lifestyle for the population, while reducing the overall cost burden of the Scheme over time. He explained that the current focus of paying for curative services predominantly was not a sustainable approach to managing Ghana’s biggest social intervention Scheme.
