Sekyere West District Health Insurance takes-off in November

Mampong (Ash), Oct. 24, GNA - The Sekyere West District Health Insurance Scheme would take-off by the end of November, when all premium holders and people under exemption have been issued with identity cards. While the scheme has collected 34 million cedis as premiums from 7,000 fully paid-up members, 36,980 people have so far been registered throughout the District.

Speaking to the GNA at Mampong-Ashanti on Monday, Mr Bonnie Rockson, the Scheme Manager, said 3,300 contributors to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) had also been brought on board. He said 2,680 people under exemption, made up of 300 SSNIT pensioners, 190 aged people of more than 70 years, and 480 paupers are being processed to benefit from the Scheme. Mr Rocson said the Scheme had started issuing identity (ID) cards to fully paid-up members in the informal sector and those in the formal sector would get theirs before the end of November. He said the slow pace for the take-off of the scheme had been due to untimely release of administrative funds, lack of logistics and inadequate training of staff.

"For the whole of this year, we only received 56 million cedis from the Government to cover administrative expenses printing of ID cards, photo copying and training, the Scheme Manager said. While appealing for the timely release of funds, he commended the Sekyere West District Assembly for showing keen interest in the affairs of the Scheme.