Greater Accra NHIS holds Annual Review

The Greater Accra National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on Thursday held its 2013 Annual Review Meeting in Accra. The meeting, which was attended by the Regional and District Officers of the Scheme, was to examine the successes and challenges encountered in 2013 and the way forward. Among the NHIS districts, which took part in the review, are Tema, Ablekuma, Okaikoi, Weija, Ga, Dangme West, Ayawaso, Osu Klottey, Kpeshie, Adentan, Ashaiman, Ashiedu Keteke, La and Dangme East. Mr Lawrence Amartey, Greater Accra Regional NHIS Manager in his report, said the Region has for the past three years led in membership coverage nationwide. He said despite the numerous challenges that saddled the Scheme in 2013, it was able to achieve huge successes. He noted that the active membership in the Region grew by 12.6 per cent, declaring that, it has 36 per cent active membership which will be built up to 45 per cent by the end of this year. Mr Amartey said the Region embarked upon a successful Biometric Registration on a pilot basis in the Ayawaso and La Districts, in which the main targets were the military and the police, declaring that, 45,000 security personnel were covered.` He explained that, this year, the Biometric Registration would be rolled out to cover the entire Region, to help eliminate double registration and streamline transactions. He said under the biometric registration, subscribers would be issued with their membership identity cards instantly. The Scheme Manager recounted that in the year under review, the Scheme was able to organize health walk as part of efforts to inculcate health fitness in people. He said in 2013 the Scheme organized donations to the Accra Psychiatric and Pantang Hospitals. He announced that the Region was gearing itself towards the implementation of the capitation grant, which would be preceded by the setting up of the Preference Primary Provider in all districts, to avoid the problems encountered during the piloting phase in the Ashanti Region. Mr Amartey said under the Biometric Registration, all claims would be submitted to the Claims Processing Centre for processing. He said the Scheme expects to bring the Ghana Health Service on board in undertaking provider monitoring. He lauded the Ashaiman Municipal Scheme for being among the top performing schemes in the country, adding that, some of the schemes in the region were just surviving. The Scheme Manager added that in 2013 Ashaiman recorded 72 per cent premium collection, which deserves commendation.