NHIS workers pledge to hard work to achieve objectives

Health Insurance workers in the Central Region have pledged to hard work to achieve the core objectives of the Health Insurance Policy.

The workers say notwithstanding the operational challenges facing the scheme, nothing would change the collective effort to make things work.

These were contained in a resolution adopted at the end of an Annual Review Meeting attended by heads of the various NHIA departments at the Regional office, District Managers and their core officers held at the University of Cape Coast on Thursday.

The meeting on the theme “strategizing and improving our performance in the midst of all challenges,” afforded participants to effectively assess the Region’s overall performance for the previous year, and adopted new and workable strategies to improve the performance of the branch schemes.

The workers expressed the optimism that the strategies adopted at the end of the meeting would assist them achieve the performance target set for the region this year.

According to the workers, in spite of the teething challenges facing the policy, they were more prepared to work hard work to ensure that hundreds of thousands of NHIS clients in the central region are reached,

In an address, the Regional Director, Mr. Francis Oti Frimpong, described as remarkable the selfless performance displayed by NHIA employees in the region last year and strongly advised them to work harder to enable the region to exceed the 850,024 membership target it has set for itself by the end of the year.

The Regional Director laid emphasis on the strategic direction of the Chief Executive Officer of the NHIS, Dr. Samuel Yaw Annor, which was centred on four fundamental pillars designed to promote the aims and objectives of the scheme.

They included, additional source of Funding by increasing the NHIA levy on vat from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent, implementation of electronic claims management to improve efficiency and minimize fraud, internal police force improvement, and amending the NHIS law to make crime against the scheme more punitive to deter others who intends to defraud the scheme.

Mr. Oti Frimpong said with hard work coupled with selfless devotion to duty, NHIS workers in the region could sustain and maintain the trust and confidence reposed in them by the management of the scheme.

He, therefore, charged every employee in the region to always consider the scheme as their personal venture and learn to explore better ways to enhance teir work.

Mr. John Awuku-Ahevi, Central Regional Operational Manager of the NHIS, disclosed that, as at the end of December 2017, the number of active NHIS membership for the region stood at 717,759 representing 84 percent of the region’s targeted 850,024 registered clients.

He mentioned Ejumako-Enyan-Essiam (AEE), Asikuma–Odoben-brakwa (AOB), and Cape Coast Metro (CCM) schemes as branch schemes which performed very well in the year under review taking into consideration the relevant key performance indicators (KPIS).

Mr. Awuku-Ahevi said other District branches in the Region performed below 58.3 percent, which was the regional performance average.

He attributed the judicious use of consumables, occasional institutional outreach registrations, and intensive publicity as the key factors which yielded excellent results for the schemes.

The Regional Operations manager identified challenges like, understaffing, frequent breakdown of equipment, and logistical constraints as some of the causes of the poor performance of the schemes.

Mr. William Omane Adjekum, a Director of the Cape Coast office, who presided over the meeting, commended the NHIS workers in the region for their deep sense of commitment and preparedness to put up their best.

He called on District, Municipal, and Metropolitan Schemes in the Region to intensify their educational activities on the NHIS activities to pave the way for greater achievements.