Council to regulate health insurance scheme in the offing

A National Health Insurance Council is to be established to oversee health insurance programmes and provide guidelines and regulations for their smooth operation and effectiveness, Vice President Aliu Mahama said on Wednesday.

Alhaji Mahama was opening the third annual lecture of the Ghana Medical Association in Accra. The two-day lecture, attended by members of the Council of State, ministers, parliamentarians, health workers and a cross-section of the public, is under the theme: " Healthcare Financing in Ghana."

Alhaji Mahama said the ministerial task team on health insurance, which is finalising proposals for a policy framework and a draft bill for consideration of the Cabinet and Parliament, had proposed the establishment of a Mutual Health Organisation and a Social Insurance Scheme to provide for a variety of stakeholders within the context of a district-wide scheme.

He, however, appealed to professionals in the health and insurance sectors as well members of the public to offer innovative and radical suggestions for the formulation of a comprehensive and carefully regulated and sustainable insurance scheme that would meet the needs of the average Ghanaian.

Alhaji Mahama underscored the need for replacing the 'Cash and Carry System' with a more equitable one, saying only 20 per cent of persons accessing health care at any point in time could afford it, under the Cash and Carry.

" A comprehensive scheme that will create access to quality health care for all citizens, irrespective of their socio-economic status should be the foundation on which we build our health sector," he said.

In an efficient health delivery system, the Vice President said, insurance covered basic medical insurance for physicians fee, laboratory and radiology services and prescription drugs, while in the case of hospitalisation the system catered for all or part of the cost of hospitalisation for a number of days and expenses such as nursing services, medications, X-rays and surgical dressings.

Alhaji Mahama said before the end of the term of the government, such an insurance scheme would be in place in fulfilment of the government's agenda to provide a more humane health care system.

He gave the assurance that the government would strengthen the exemption policy to reduce the devastating effects of the young, aged and handicapped who require medical attention as it phased out the Cash and Carry system.

The Vice President called for the practice of good personal hygiene and environmental protection to prevent diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea and upper respiratory tract infection, which account for 70 per cent of diseases.

He said maintaining discipline in the management of our lifestyles could avoid contracting HIV/AIDS, hypertension and other diseases. Mr Moses Dani Baah, Deputy Minister of Health, said with the implementation of an insurance scheme, the government would bear 80 per cent of the health budget.

"The infrastructure for health, equipment and the salaries of personnel, which account for the percentage would be provided by the government. The fund from the insurance scheme would be the contribution, which is now being paid to the Cash and Carry system," he said.

Mr Dani Baah called for more action rather than words to ensure the speedy replacement of the Cash and Carry system, which he said denied many sick people their right to live.

The President of GMA, Dr J. Plange-Rhule, said the association welcomed the insurance scheme as a better option to the present system. He, however, called for a system that would address the problems of chronic non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, renal failure and others.

"Another challenge that has to be dealt with is how the scheme is going to cope in the event of natural and man-made disasters. How are we going to deal with victims of road accidents?"

Dr Plange-Rhule said the problems of inadequate and highly skilled health personnel and the imbalance in their distribution had to be dealt with. It was for these reasons, he said, that the lecture was devoted to discussions on the health insurance scheme to get proposals for the establishment of an efficient and effective system.

The history and assessment of the Cash and Carry System; Overview of Financing Mechanisms for the health sector; Work Ethics and Health Insurance and Government Budgetary Allocation are topic for the lecture.