GH¢250k donation to COVID-19 Fund part of our responsibility – NHIA

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has explained that donating an amount of GH¢250,000 to the COVID-19 National Trust Fund forms part of its responsibilities.

The Authority has received backlash from Ghanaians after it donated the amount on Wednesday when claims to hospitals have not been paid.

Responding to the backlash, the Authority in a statement said the move was backed by the National Health Insurance ACT, 2012 (ACT 852) Section 40 which further details the objective of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

“Section 40 (2 c & d) states, amongst others, that the NHIF is to facilitate the provision of or access to health care services and to invest in any other facilitating programme to promote access to health service. Furthermore, the NHIS was set up as a solidarity system to make public healthcare affordable. Public healthcare support includes payments for vaccines, immunisation, and malaria prevention amongst others. In light of this, it was deemed appropriate to support COVID-19 efforts by the government. This does not, in any way, relegate the payment of claims to the background,” the statement read.

It explained further that “The NHIA’s donation of GH¢250,000 to the COVID-19 Relief Fund, though significant, represents less than 5% of the entire Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Budget for 2020. Indeed, it is equivalent to 0.06% of funds paid in claims this year, which amounts to approximately GH¢400 Million to healthcare providers as claims reimbursement”.