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The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has barred some health facilities from providing healthcare services to its cardholders for failing to regularise their operations. As a result, thousands of NHIA cardholders in deprived communities in the northern and southern parts of the Western Region have to use the Cash-and-Carry system to access healthcare. According to the health authorities, many sick people who visited the hospitals that had received the letters from the NHIA had to go back to their villages to look for money to pay for their treatment. The decision, contained in a three-page suspension letter to one of the hospitals in Prestea and made available to the Daily Graphic indicated that the NHIA had not accredited the facility. Those hospitals, according to the NHIA, were given notification with a deadline of December 9, 2014 to regularise their operations with the authority, but they failed to do so.� The letter, signed by the acting Director, Quality Assurance of the authority, Dr Memuna Tanko, on behalf of its chief executive, said, �As a result, we regret to inform you that your facility has been suspended from providing healthcare services to NHIS subscribers effective January 1, 2015, since you failed to regularise�. It also ordered its district officers to stop processing claims from the affected facilities until their regularisation and their status with the authority had been accredited. That, according to a source close to the Western Regional Health Directorate, was shocking since the affected hospitals in Prestea, Tarkwa, Bogoso and other parts of the region did not act on their own and the victims would be the poor people in the villages. It explained that since the inception of the scheme in 2006, all government health facilities were automatically given credentials followed by an audit in 2008, which led to the issuance of permanent credentials to various health facilities under the Ghana Health Service (GHS). No audit The source said even before giving credentials, the NHIA had to go round the country to audit all the health facilities after every five years. It noted that many of the affected facilities had paid the fee of GH�700.00 for the renewal, but the NHIA in the letter indicated that it refused them access because the payment was not done before the December 9, 2014 deadline. �We must also put on record that while they are forcing us to go back to Cash and Carry, the authority is owing these facilities millions which they are yet to pay,� it said. Centralised system Officials at the heath directorate explained to the Daily Graphic that the GHS operated a centralised system which was known to the NHIA. �Therefore, the letter should have been directed to the GHS in Accra and not the medical superintendents in charge of the health facilities in those communities. �The last page of the letter, which is demanding from the medical superintendents, who are also employees of the Health Service, to provide documents such as certificates of all professional staff; evidence of renewed pins of nurses and midwives; retention for pharmacists, medical doctors and assistants, is wrong,� �they said. NHIA Reacts Throwing more light on the action taken by the NHIA, the acting Director of Corporate Affairs, Dr Nii Annag Adjetey, said when health insurance was first introduced in the country, healthcare facilities were given blanket accreditation to provide service for NHIS card holders. He said as time went on, healthcare facilities were required to mantain quality of care to card holders and, therefore, needed to meet standards of quality care which involved applying for accreditation /credentialing, inspection of premises and meeting standards required for healthcare professionals and other staff.� Standard Care He said if they fulfilled all the requirements, the service providers were accredited to provide care for NHIS subscribers but if they failed to meet the required standard of care, they were suspended as had happened in the case of some of the service providers in the Western Region. �Dr Adjetey, said so far 10 healthcare facilities in Wassa West had been suspended and were required to apply for accreditation to continue to provide care to NHIS cardholders. The names of those healthcare facilities affected are: Himan Health Centre, New Atuabo Health Centre, University of Mines and Technology Clinic, Simpa Health Centre, Benso Health Centre, Donpim Health Centre, Nsuaem Health Centre, Iduapriem Health Centre, Awudua Health Centre and Prestea Government Hospital.