BUDGET: NHIS to create fixed registration centres

Accra, Nov. 16, GNA - The National Health Insurance Council has proposed the creation of fixed registration points to enable individuals to register at their convenience and return to the same points for their cards after processing and issuance.

This is to curb the risk involved in the loss of premiums collected, which is associated with the current registration done by private individuals from house-to-house, which is inefficient and expensive.

Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said this at t he presentation of the 2007 Budget to Parliament on Thursday.

He said the Council would work with institutions like Ghana Post, Ghana Commercial Bank, Association of Rural Banks, hospitals, health centres and clinics on the possibility of establishing registration points at the premises of their branches and agencies. The minister said the Council had also recruited National Service personnel for training and deployment to the various centres of the scheme to as sist with the registration in order to facilitate the exercise.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said the government set for the National Health Insurance Council Secretariat a target of 50 per cent coverage by the end of 2006 adding that 34 per cent of the population had been achieved as at the close of September with 18 per cent issued with identity cards and were enjoying the full benefits under the scheme. He said the Council therefore had an onerous task of scaling up their registration and issuance of ID cards to about 25 per cent more of the population by the end of December 2006 in order to meet its set target.