Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Samuel Annor, has stated that the long waiting times and inconvenience of travelling long distances to District Offices of NHIS to renew cards will soon be a thing of the past.
Dr. Annor made the announcement during his working visit to the Ashanti Region noting that the operations of the NHIA “is to become fully electronic with the introduction of the Ghana Card”.
He said the NHIA was undergoing a re-organisation to move from the manual mode of operations to a more technological method to improve competency and efficiency in its service delivery to meet the expectations of clients, service providers and Ghanaians in general.
This initiative, according to him, was as a result of introduction of a new innovation using mobile phones with a short code for renewal of NHIS cards.
He assured members of a Short Code (*842*10#) for renewal of membership amongst others,
He pointed out that, the innovation not only offers convenience for the member but also allows members to check membership eligibility period, NHIS Benefit packages and Medicine list.
He revealed that the technology was currently being piloted at Asuogyaman and East Mamprusi Districts and will be rolled out in a phased approach nationally.
He noted that members will no longer require to be at the NHIA offices to renew their membership.
Dr. Annor expressed regret that the NHIA established under National Health Insurance Act 2003, Act 650 should have become financially sustainable now, but after its phase one and two stages, it was becoming unsustainable.
He said that gradually caused a reduction in the membership because whilst it was 11 million in 2015, it dropped to 9.8 million in 2016, but Dr. Annor added with efficiency and dynamism into its operations the membership rose between 10.5 -10.6 million in 2017.
The CEO attributed its unsustainable situation to inadequate income in relation to its expenditure such as operational cost and payments to service providers, and revealed that the “scheme now has zero financial reserve” as against at least six months reserve it should have had now.
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