By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Minority Caucus on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health has called on Government to comply with Section 52(1) of the National Health Insurance Act (Act 852) to save the Scheme from collapse.
Speaking at a press conference, the Ranking Member on the Committee and MP for Juaboso Kwabena, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, also accused the Finance Minister of breaching Sub-Section two of Section Fifty-Two, {52(2)} which also states that “the Minister responsible for Finance shall present to Parliament every six months a report on payment of levies into the Fund”.
He noted that the actions of the NPP government are undermining objectives of the scheme as he noted that, “under President Nana Akufo-Addo, lodging of the NHIL and 2.5% of SSNIT contributions into the National Health Insurance Fund has been left to the dictates of the Finance Minister in contravention of section 52(1) of the National Health Insurance Act 852 which states that the Minister responsible for Finance shall within thirty days after collection of the levy cause the levy to be paid directly into the fund and furnish the Minister responsible for Health and the Authority with evidence of the payment”.
“Although the scheme has struggled since its inception to meet claims of active members from service providers, the recent misapplication of funds collected as levies and SSNIT contributions for other government projects in addition to increases in non-core activities of the fund has placed the fund into medical comatose. Every health insurance scheme requires a constant flow from its funding streams and elbow room to invest a portion of its inflows if it were to stay viable, whilst meeting its mandate.
Neither has the Minister accounted to parliament bi-annually (every 6 months) as expressly required by section 52(2) which also states that the Minister responsible for Finance shall present to Parliament every six months a report on payment of levies into the Fund.”
According to him, annual payments towards the National Health Insurance Scheme tell a different story.
“A study of the National Health Insurance Fund Allocation Formula for 2022 shows that of the GHc2.056 billion collected from Ghanaians as NHIL in 2021, only GH¢ 127.4 million or 6% of the total collected was released by this government to address the obligations of the year. Is that not surprising that providers of services under the scheme—hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories, etc.—are often outraged claiming arrears in reimbursement,” he said on Tuesday, May 10.
He added, “this is however not unique to 2021. In 2020, out of the GH¢ 2.337 billion Ghanaians paid as NHIL and SSNIT contributions for the fund, only GH¢ 790.29m or 31% was released to address claims for the year (2020). 2019 figures were GHS721.09m out of GHS1, 262.92 or 57%. 2018 figures were GHS506.80 out of 1,579.49m or 32%. We will want to emphasize that since Nana Akufo-Addo took over as President an average of 41.2% of collections due to the NHIS has been released compared to 73.25% under President Mahama. How anyone can expect the scheme to pay its providers and have funds to invest is a question only the President through his Finance Minister can answer.”
