Prestea hospitals back under cash and carry system

Some health facilities in the Prestea Huni/Valley District are using the cash and carry system due to the failure of the National Health Insurance Scheme to honour their claims.

Health facilities in the district operating cash and carry system included the Prestea Government Hospital, four health centers, six CHP compounds and two community clinics.

The District Director of Health, Mrs. Caroline Otoo, confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Bogoso on Friday.

She said the district health directorate decided to take this action because the National Health Insurance Scheme has failed to pay claims submitted by health facilities in the district for nine months.

Mrs. Otoo said that the district health directorate had no alternative but to withdraw from the National Health Insurance Scheme until the National Health Insurance Scheme pays claims.

The District Health Director said that due to the mounting debt, suppliers are refusing to provide the needed drugs and equipment, adding that, this was posing a threat to service delivery.

Mrs Otoo, therefore, called on the management of the National Health Insurance Scheme to reimburse them as soon as possible for the health institutions to carry out their good work to save lives.

This is not the first time some heath facilities have been compelled to return to the cash and carry system.

The Health Insurance Service Providers Association of Ghana (HISPAG ) in the preceding year withdrew their services to NHIS card bearing members due to government’s failure to pay the monies owed them.

Mission hospitals who were key service providers also returned to the cash and carry system of providing health care.

The continuous delay forced HISPAG to threaten legal action against the NHIA because according to them, the delay in paying the monies affected the smooth running of their health facilities.