Read : Eradicating Co-payment , Bibiani NHIA sensitizes card holders

Read: Eradicating Co-payment, Bibiani NHIA sensitizes card holders

 The Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai District of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has embarked on a community to community sensitization of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card holders on their rights and privileges under the scheme.

The exercise which seeks to educate the public on the various benefits as enshrined in the NHIS Benefit package is also to enable them to identify arbitrary charges at health facilities and how to report them for immediate redress.

Addressing one of such gathering at Sefwi Ntakam, the Acting District Manager, Mr Osei-Owusu Adomako disclosed that the era where facility managers used the excuse of indebtedness to extort monies from card holders is over saying as at Friday 22nd March 2024, the NHIA was up to date on payments to all its providers.

He therefore advised card holders to insist on their rights to the benefit package without having to pay any top of us or charges for laboratory investigations.

He noted scheme was careful deal such facilities in the past because they saw charging laboratory fees as a means by the facilities to diagnose the card holders in the era of huge indebtedness but with the improved payment over the last two years, such issues should be a thing of the past.

Mr Adomako listed charges for investigations like Malaria, Typhoid, Sugar levels for Diabetic patients,Scans for pregnant women,X-Rays amongst the benefits under the NHIS for which card holders are also charged and charged card holders who are asked or made to pay for reporting to the NHIS office.

He disclosed that so far over 85 facilities nationwide have been suspended for cases of arbitrary charges and that any facility reported for such would be dealt with by the NHIA 

For his part, the Abakomahene of Sefwi Ntakam, Nana Yaw Gyaim, expressed surprise at the knowledge that almost all that they are made to pay for are rather covered under the NHIS.

He therefore charged the NHIS office to sustain the education to empower the public to eradicate the practice.

He pledged the readiness of the traditional leaders to help propagate the good news and also play their part in ensuring that the practice is eradicated to restore the Health Insurance to its past glory.

Among the communities so far sensitized were Nkatieso, Awaso, Ashiam, Asawinso-, Akaaso, Chirano, among others.

Source: Bibianinews.com