Current management at NHIA good - Sylvester Mensah

A former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr. Sylvester Mensah, has posited that the current management at his former officer are good but they must not allow government propaganda to affect their work.

He cautioned the current management to be careful and avoid any form of influence because at the end of the day, they are going to be sacrificed.

''I think that, we have a good management in place, I think they have their hands well on the ball, I think what the challenge is, is that political leadership is weak and politicians are playing politics with it. And at the end of the day, management of the scheme, will be seen as the bad guys and may take the fall… That should not happen. He also charged Ghanaians to hold President Akufo-Addo and his Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta accountable for the management of the scheme. We must hold government responsible and accountable, and in doing so, we need to hold the president and the finance minister jointly responsible for the sustenance of the health insurance scheme,’’ he concluded.

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is a social intervention program introduced by government to provide financial access to quality health care for residents in Ghana.

The NHIS is largely funded by: The National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL), which is 2.5% levy on goods and services collected under the Value Added Tax (VAT); 2.5 percentage points of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributions per month; return on National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) investments; premium paid by informal sector subscribers and Government allocation complements the funding of the scheme.

In addition to the premium, subscribers are also required to pay a processing fee or renewal fee for their ID cards, except pregnant women and indigents.