The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has refuted media claims suggesting the imminent collapse of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The Authority responded to a publication titled “NHIS almost collapsing, stay off the NHI levy – Dormaahene says as he threatens legal action.”
The story reported Dormaahene, Oseadeyo Agyeman Badu II, expressing concern about the current state of the NHIS and advocating for the release of proceeds from the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) to bolster the Scheme’s functions.
‘While Management appreciates Osagyefo’s call for the government to give the Scheme the full amount of the NHIL collected, we would like to address the erroneous impression that the reportage created, suggesting that the Scheme is on the verge of collapse, because the NHIA is not receiving the full amount of the NHI levy, therefore depriving healthcare providers of their rightful claims.
While acknowledging Dormaahene’s plea for the government to allocate the full NHIL amount to the NHIA, the Authority strongly disapproves of the media narrative that implies an imminent collapse of the NHIS due to insufficient funds.
The NHIA highlights that, contrary to the narrative, it consistently pays healthcare facilities an average of One Hundred and Fifty Million Ghana Cedis (GHS150 Million) every Thirty (30) days, particularly over the past two years—a frequency unprecedented in the twenty-year history of the Scheme.
The NHIA encourages the media to accurately represent the situation in healthcare facilities and avoid creating a misleading impression. The statement emphasizes the NHIS’s crucial role in providing healthcare access to millions of Ghanaians and calls for responsible reporting.
“We however, strongly disapprove of the media narrative that seeks to create an impression of a collapsing NHIS. The NHIA has consistently paid healthcare facilities an average of One Hundred and Fifty Million Ghana Cedis (GHS150 Million) every Thirty (30) days especially over the past two years. A phenomenon that has not occurred this frequently, since the inception of the Scheme some twenty years ago.
“Evidence of monthly claims payment can be found on the website (www.nhis.gov.gh/payments). We wish to state unequivocally that the impression created by the said story is inaccurate and unfortunate.
“We hereby encourage the media to find out the real situation that exists in our healthcare facilities and not to paint a picture that is at a considerable distance from the truth. Millions of Ghanaians continue to depend on the NHIS to provide access to healthcare,” a statement issued by the Authority said.