National Health Insurance Authority Disburses Funds Today

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) was faced with a high mountain to climb when health institutions under the Christian Health Association expressed their frustration over payments for their services through the health insurance scheme. The Christian Health providers, like the other health providers, have not been reimbursed for their services in the last six months. They therefore threatened to withdraw their services from Health Insurance Card holders. When our reporters visited some of the hospitals, patients with the NHIS card sat unattended to. According to the nurses and doctors, they were only taking care of those who were paying in cash. A few days ago, Madam Shirley Aryeetey, Minister of Health promised to ensure that funds in arrears are paid to the various hospitals. Speaking in an interview on Peace FM news @ 6pm, Madam Shirley Aryeetey assured that the money has been deposited in the accounts of the NHIA. According to her, the money was approved by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on Monday and was immediately deposited at the bank. She assured that all the hospitals including the government ones will get their own share of the money. However, how the disbursement will be made is in the hands of the Authority. �We will do all we can as a ministry and in collaboration with the authority to ensure that this does not repeat itself. At least every month, monies will be given to the hospitals providing NHIS to ensure smooth running of the scheme�� she said.