Since it was introduced some three (3) years ago, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is now acclaimed to be the best health insurance system in the world.
The great success chalked by the system in the relatively short time has surprised many observers including health professionals and even managers of the scheme.
This was announced by the Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Rans Boateng at a programme to inaugurate an interim board of directors for the Ahafo Ano North District health insurance scheme.
Deputy health minister Abraham Dwumo Adu corroborated the account of Boateng by adding that the scheme has so far covered about 48 percent of the populace -this means that over ten million people are hooked to the NHIS.
Boateng said the health insurance scheme has succeeded in greatly reducing mortality caused by some preventable diseases which in the past killed people because patients could not afford the cost of treatment
He agreed that there are some challenges facing some district health insurance schemes and it is for this reason that an interim board is being put in place to supervise the operation of managers of the scheme to make it work better.
Explaining the role of the board, he said they are to set concrete policies and supervise management to effectively implement the policies.
The board is also to scrutinize and approve the budget of the district scheme prepared by the management .This is to prevent management from arbitrary spending funds from the coffers of the scheme.
The CEO said the managers at the districts have to be held in check to ensure the proper discharge of their duties and transparency in their operations.
The deputy minister of health Mr. Abraham Dwumo Adu warned that the ministry would not tolerate any person or group of people who engage in any form of financial malfeasance at the district health insurance scheme.
He urged the board to help eliminate all forms of corrupt practices some staff of the scheme are engaged in; such as the issuance of flying checks. Explaining this, the minister said some private hospitals issue invoices to the scheme to claim money when they have actually not offered treatment.
Dwumo Adu also warned officials fast track the registration of clients who might have gone to the hospitals and after realizing they can not afford the cost of treatment then rush to register in order to be covered by the scheme.
He advised officials to relate cordially with clients who come to register with the scheme and avoid attitudes which could scare residents from wanting to be part of the scheme.
The deputy minister called for co-operation between the new interim board and officials of the regional and national health insurance schemes to run the system efficiently
Members of the 13- member interim board were drawn from the ministry of health, district assembly, financial institution, traditional and religious council, the community, legal and medical practitioners.
