The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has registered one million, one hundred and twenty-four thousand, four hundred and thirty eight (1,124,438) poverty-stricken people across the country.
The figure which covers the period between January and November, 2013 is the highest the Scheme has recorded since inception. The Scheme has averagely registered less than four hundred indigents per year.
Coverage of the poor in NHIS parlance refers to enrolling people classified as very poor, by the appropriate government agency, onto the Scheme free of charge. This means these people do not pay membership processing fees and annual premiums. The cost of their membership is borne by government.
There is however no discrimination in the service received by these people and what others get.
The NHIS, as one of the country�s social protection interventions is also tasked to provide cover for people defined as very poor also known as indigents.
The number of indigents registered this year has been this high because a more effective outreach approach was used in locating the poor and vulnerable.
In 2010, the Scheme enrolled 117,295 indigents. This number increased to 342,127 in 2011 and 393,453 in 2012.
The 2013 indigent registration of about 1.12 million is the highest so far and represents approximately 280% increase over 2012 figures.
The NHIS was set up to provide financial risk protection against the cost of basic healthcare for all residents in Ghana.
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