NHIA owes Ghc16m in Ashanti

Government Health facilities in the Ashanti Region have threatened to withdraw medical services to holders of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards if the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) fails to reimburse them for their unpaid claims.

According to them, the NHIA owes facilities in the region an amount of Ghc15,806,843 that spans a period of 10 months, resulting in their inability to pay their creditors for supplies advanced to them.

Members of the Medical Superintendents Group of Ghana in Ashanti Region, in a statement, said they have given the NHIA up to March 15, 2015 to pay off its 2014 indebtedness to enable them to continuously offer service to NHIS clients.

The statement, signed by Dr Nana Yaw Manu, also called on the NHIA to either improve on the operations of the CPC or scrap it altogether.

It continued that the decision was arrived at after a meeting held on February 11, 2015 at the Regional Health Directorate in Kumasi over the future of the health facilities in delivering quality healthcare to clients.

The statement intimated that creditors of the government health facilities had refused to supply drugs and non-drug consumables as a result of their indebtedness to them.

It cited Bekwai Government Hospital where the situation had become worse, making it difficult for the facility to operate.

“This, coupled with high expenditure on fuel for our generators because of the erratic power supply, and cost of maintenance of our equipment we cannot operate within our respective budgets,” the statement added.

The medical superintendents mentioned that the development had led to a compromised quality of care to patients that visit their facilities.