Chief Executive officer of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Gilbert Buckle has lamented about the very expensive nature of healthcare provision in the country and called for the need for alternative sources of funding to help finance adequate health delivery to the poor especially.
He has subsequently proposed for a national debate to discuss the subject matter in order to find a sustainable means of financing effective healthcare provision in the country.
According to him the cost of importing already very expensive medical consumables into the country has also added significant to the cost of healthcare provision.
The cost of electricity, water and other logistics needed in order to offer efficient healthcare all contribute to the high cost of effective service delivery.
Dr. Buckle who said this in Accra disclosed that its cost GH1, 200 a day to provide healthcare to a single patient in the intensive care Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital which ordinary citizens cannot afford. The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) only reimburses the hospital with an average of GH 400 of the total GH1, 200.
This implies that the poor patient is required pay the remaining GH800 out of their own pocket, a situation which does not support adequate healthcare.
Financial protection against the cost of unforeseen ill health has become a global concern according to the 2005 World health Assembly resolution (WHA58.33), which urges its member states to ‘plan the transition to universal coverage of their citizens.”
Unfortunately an out-of-pocket payment, which is considered regressive to households presently account for about 45% of health funding in Ghana.
The NHIS was expected to ensure citizens receive adequate healthcare irrespective of their financial status but has not been able to achieve that so far due to inadequate funding to reimburse service providers.
Until a national debate is held to reach a consensus on the way-for-ward to sustainable fund healthcare delivery in Ghana, there is nothing Hospital authorities can do to stop the increasing cost of healthcare to the ordinary masses of our people.
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