Members of the Private Healthcare Providers Association together with Health Insurance Service Providers Association of Ghana have given a March 1, 2020 deadline to withdraw from providing health services to Ghanaian on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
This is because of the consistent refusal of the government’s failure to pay outstanding debts over services provided in more than a year now,
A joint statement released by the Private Health Facilities Association Of Ghana [PHFAOG] and the Health Insurance Service Providers Association Of Ghana [HISPAG] released earlier this week, recounted how much frustration their members have been subjected to due to government’s failure to settle its debt.
“To clarify this point, NHIS owe service providers between 9 (nine) to 14 (fourteen) months which covers arrears from 2018 for some providers and 2019 for others. This is unacceptable considering the fact that, the health sector is regarded as an essential service and a key component for socio-economic development,” said the Executive Director of Health Insurance Service Providers Association of Ghana, Mr Frank Torblu,
“The persistent narrative that service providers are unable to timely submit claims as the cause of the delay in reimbursement is untenable as the scheme has enforced strict timelines for submissions stated in the contract. The contractual agreement explicitly and categorically states; “the NHIA will make payments within ninety (90) days of receipt of claim unless written notice of a dispute or discrepancy is furnished the provider within thirty (30) days of receipt of claim,” he said.
Meanwhile, the disgruntled would have to contend with other serious pressing challenges as the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the state social security firm SSNIT, have all been dragging their members to court because they are unable to pay obligations to these companies.
The decision to down their tools and refuse to service NHIS patients will essentially collapse the health insurance scheme which recently received another ultimatum from pharmaceutical companies.
The pharmaceuticals also had the same complaint of government’s non-payment of drugs they have supplied to health facilities across the country.