NHIS card holders to pay for medicines?

Barring any intervention from the government, holders of the  National Health Insurance Scheme cards will have to pay for their drugs in cash because the hospitals are too broke to give out medical supplies.

This follows the decision by the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to suspend the issuing of medicines to NHIS subscribers. 

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, who confirmed this to the Daily Graphic, said although the hospitals would attend to patients, they would not be offered medicines. 

“Some of the facilities have been taken to court for owing the pharmaceutical  companies. The companies have written to us that they can no longer give us credit facility.”

“What we want to do is to maintain a revolving fund. When you come, they will see you alright but you have to pay for the medicine,” he said. 

He said the NHIS arrears covered  between six to eight months. Dr Appiah-Denkyira could, however, not give the total amount the GHS owed the hospitals but stated that “the NHIS has the entire list, ours together with all the others.”

When contacted the Communications Manager of the NHIA , Mr Selorm Adonu, declined to comment. 

Signals on the wall 

The signals have been long on the wall. Last month, some of the Regional Health Directorates warned that they would reject NHIS card holders.

Managers of some of the facilities claimed they had to borrow from banks to pay their workers and replenish their facilities of hospital consumables while others say the banks have lost confidence in their credibility and have declined granting them any further loan facilities, a situation they claimed could cripple healthcare delivery in the country.  

On February 13, this year, hospitals in the Volta Region threatened to return to the ‘cash- and -carry system’ if the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) did  not pay monies owed them within 30 days. 

On February 27 , the Upper East Regional Directorate of the GHS  hinted  that ‘cash -and- carry system’ was looming in the region, and warned that  hospitals would have no other option than to reverse to the system in providing healthcare to their clients if the NHIA failed to settle its arrears. 

The Christian Health Association (CHAG) on July 1 last year withdrew their services to subscribers of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) because managers of the scheme owe the mission hospitals in excess of GH¢ 50 million. 

There are 183 mission hospitals in the country which cater for about 42 per cent of the healthcare needs of the people, especially those in deprived communities. 

In July last year, the Ghana Chamber of Pharmacy nearly cut supply of drugs to health facilities that depend on the  NHIS  to pay for their drugs.

Some experts have pointed to funding gaps of the scheme warning it could collapse the scheme. 

In 2005, a total amount of GH¢ 7.60 million was paid as claims to healthcare providers for services rendered to NHIS subscribers. In 2013, such claims payment increased substantially to GH¢ 785.64 million.

Writer’s email:seth.bokpe@graphic.com.gh