Hohoe Health Insurance targets 95 percent coverage by 2009

Hohoe, Aug. 29, GNA - The Hohoe Municipal Health Insurance Scheme (HMHIS) was developing strategies to attain a 95 percent coverage within its catchments area by the end of 2009. It has already covered 60.57 percent of the Municipality's population, registering a total of 87,532 clients in the 2007/2008 financial year. Mr Smart S. Hadzi, out-going Board Chairman of the Scheme disclosed this at its second Annual General Meeting. He said the Scheme collected 318,904 Ghana Cedis since inception in 2005 and so far generated 221,461 Ghana Cedis in the 2007/2008 financial year period. Mr Hadzi said the Scheme received 656,625 Ghana Cedis from the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) as subsidies for the 2008 third quarter, with a total of 1.3 million Ghana Cedis received since inception.

He said from January to July, this year, a sum of 440,857 Ghana Cedis was paid as hospital utility and medical bills. Mr Hadzi said statistics available on incidence of diseases from the Municipal Hospital for 2007 to May this year, ranked malaria as the prevailing ailment in the Municipality, followed by antenatal cases, upper respiratory tract infection, hypertension and diabetes. The Board Chairman was optimistic that the decoupling plan by NHIA would be approved by Parlia ment to facilitate the registration of children on the streets. He said the free maternal care policy was receiving tremendous response within the Municipality, as about 2,005 pregnant women have been registered since July, this year. Mr Hadzi said the Scheme continues to suffer multiple attendance and impersonation and appealed to NHIA to adjust upward the subsidies of big hospitals in the districts, municipal and at the regional levels. He called for the upgrading of hospitals and training of more medical professionals to ease the burden on facilities and few staff. Togbega Gabusu VI, Paramount Chief of Gbi Traditional Area commended major stakeholders, especially management of the scheme for their distinguished and sterling role, which had positioned HMHIS among the best in the country. Premium collectors, in an open forum appealed to management to increase its commission upwards from the current 10 percent. Pioneering stakeholders were honoured for dedication to duty and hard work.

Meanwhile, a 10-member Board of Governors of the Scheme was inaugurated to steer the affairs of the Scheme till 2011. 29 Aug. 08