The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has released GHC400 million to address outstanding claims from health-care providers nationwide.
This significant disbursement covers claims for April and May of this year and underlines the NHIA’s steadfast commitment to improving the sustainability and efficiency of health-care delivery under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
“This substantial release not only bridges the debt gap but also reinforces our commitment to a robust and efficient health-care system” a statement from the NHIA said.
”Our continuous efforts to release funds in a timely manner are intended to ensure that outstanding payments are within the agreed three-month reimbursement period.”
The payment is crucial for enhancing the quality of care provided to NHIS members and supporting the operational needs of health-care facilities. The recent payment follows a series of previous disbursements aimed at settling outstanding claims.
Earlier in the year, GHC300 million was released to cover claims up to January 2024 for various health facilities.
On 17 August 2024, the NHIA released GHC151 million to cover claims from March 2024 for higher-tier health-care providers and from April 2024 for lower-tier facilities.
This was preceded by a GHC135.6 million payment in July, which settled claims up to February 2024 for higher-tier providers and up to March 2024 for lower-tier facilities.
On Tuesday 30 April 2024, the NHIA released GHS170,775,035.07 to cover predominantly claims of January and February 2024 for lower-tier facilities, which form the majority of health-care providers, and up to November 2023 for upper-tier facilities and health-care providers.
On Friday 22 March 2024, the NHIA paid GHC180 million to various categories of health-care providers across the country for claims submitted and vetted up to December 2023.
On 13 February 2024, the NHIA paid over GHC130 million to 4,850 mission, public, private and quasi-public health-care providers nationwide largely for claims submitted for the month of October 2023.
The NHIA’s ongoing financial support is a positive step towards strengthening Ghana’s health system, maintaining strong partnerships with health-care providers, and ensuring the delivery of quality health-care services to all NHIS subscribers.
The NHIS Benefit Package currently covers over 95% of disease conditions affecting residents and includes over 550 formulations on the NHIS medicines list, ensuring comprehensive coverage for all diseases under the scheme.
The NHIA assures stakeholders that it remains committed to engaging with them to address any concerns and to improve the efficiency of service delivery, claims processing and payments.