The ongoing review process of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) set in motion late last year by President John Mahama, has tabled a proposal that the scheme be restricted to a compulsory primary healthcare and maternal and child healthcare provision. This according to the committee will make the scheme more focused and a major vehicle for Universal Health Coverage. Currently, the NHIS runs a benefit package that experts have described as bloated, inefficient and exclusionary and one which is not sustainable over time.

At a recently held meeting between the review committee and the advisory committee, consensus on the way forward for the scheme given the work done so far, appeared to have tilted towards redesigning the scheme to provide a compulsory free primary health care package for Ghanaians irrespective of whether they are members of the Scheme or not, and also help address the current challenges of the NHIS system. Chairman of the Review Committee, Dr. Chris Atim, said the “redesign will seize the opportunity offered by the Government’s ongoing focus on Community Health Planning Services (CHPS) zone expansion and reinforcement, to redirect public resources and efforts principally towards primary healthcare and maternal and child health with the limited public resources.”

According to him, the NHIS benefits policy should be better aligned with Ghana’s most pressing public health problems and available resources. “NHIS should be re-prioritized toward universal access to primary health care in the medium term, and progressive realization of universal access to higher levels of care in the long term,” he stated. Refocusing public resources towards health The Review Committee was of the view that to address the top health priorities of the country, consistent with Ghana’s income category, public resources should be focused on high impact, cost effective interventions to address the health conditions that are responsible for the country’s underperformance in its key health indicators, such as unacceptably high maternal and child deaths, which resulted in Ghana missing out on the health-related MDG targets.

The review process is also appearing to suggest that preventive health and actions to slow or arrest the rising burden of Non-Communicable Diseases need to be tackled as public health priorities. Prof Agyeman Badu Akosa, a member of the Advisory Committee, averred that, the country must grab the opportunity of the NHIS review to position the Scheme as one that will address the current burden of disease of the country. According to him, it is a good idea to suggest that a core Primary Healthcare benefit package should be guaranteed for all residents of the country.

While supporting the view that prioritizing primary health care and maternal and child health for the Ghanaian population is the way to go, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, also a member of the Advisory Committee, mentioned that the process must include measures to step up efficiency in the running of the scheme. Another member of the Advisory Committee, Prof. Plange-Rhule, Rector of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons opined that a reviewed NHIS must guarantee that the basic healthcare needs of the populace are addressed and at an affordable cost.

The Scheme is undergoing is first ever comprehensive review since its establishment, and it is expected that the process will spawn a system that will be able to address the present difficulties of the scheme and be robust enough to take on challenges of the future. NHIS Funding gap The NHIS has been running a funding gap since 2009, a situation which according to the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), arose because of design and structural weaknesses of the Scheme. NHIA officials say the cost of providing medical care, has increased exponentially since the Scheme started full operations in 2005 also accounting for the financing deficit.

A seven member committee chaired by Dr. Chris Atim, a renowned Health Economist, is leading the review process with an Advisory Committee made up of both local and international experts in health, academia, legislature and civil society. These include Prof. Agyemang Badu Akosa, former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Prof. Frimpong Boateng, a Cardiothoracic Surgeon and former CEO of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Prof. Plange-Rhule of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Hon Nuamah Donkor, a past Health Minister Hon. Joseph Yieleh Chireh, MP, Hon. Dr Richard Anane, MP, Hon Mohammed Muntaka, MP, Hon Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, MP, and 11 others. 

Source : citifmonline