NHIS suspends capitation programme

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has said the capitation programme which was being operated in the Ashanti Region has been suspended.

A statement released by the Corporate Affairs Directorate of the NHIA on Tuesday July 25 said: “Following a directive from Government, the Board of Directors of the National Health Insurance Authority has instructed for the suspension of the Capitation program in the Ashanti Region with effect from the 1st August 2017.

“The Board shall undertake a thorough review of the whole Capitation Payment Mechanism and processes and will inform the public of the way forward after the detailed review is completed.”

The suspension follows a Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo's disclosure a few weeks ago that the government would scrap the programme.

The policy was first piloted in the Ashanti Region in 2012 with the intention to extend it to other regions.

Per the policy, subscribers were made to select a primary health care facility where they will seek care on regular basis. This was to control subscriber shopping and prevent card holders from moving to a different facility each time they felt sick.

But addressing the 25th Ashanti regional annual delegates’ conference of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Kumasi on Sunday, 16 July 2017, the Senior Minister said the mere fact that the implementers of the policy failed to expand it beyond the Ashanti Region is an indication that it was not good for the people.

He said cabinet has met on the issue and a formal announcement to scrap it would be made soon.

“We have met to discuss the National Health Insurance Capitation Policy. We introduced it in the Ashanti Region but it failed so government will cancel it. If something is not good, you have to stop it. So soon, government will come out with an announcement on that,” he stated.