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Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Lydia Dsane-Selby says the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Mobile Renewal Service has empowered members to be “Active Citizens.”
“Executive Management is pleased that NHIS members use of the Mobile Renewal Service short code *929# has increased the Scheme’s active membership to over 16 million in two years” she stated.
She was making a presentation at a “Symposium on the role of digital tools in achieving UHC in Ghana,” organized by PharmAccess Ghana in Accra. She emphasized that NHIS members preferred the digital renewal of their membership, saying,
“They are in control of their own destiny.” She said children below 18 category consistently recorded the highest number of mobile renewals followed by the informal category, being members outside the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) bracket.
She disclosed that introduction of the Mobile Renewal Service has reduced the NHIA’s operation cost and enables the team at the Claims Processing Centres to detect financial leakages in relation to Claims payments.
With this positive trend, Dr. Selby encouraged the use of the Mobile Renewal Service, whilst urging inactive members and nonmembers to get enrolled onto the Scheme in line with Ghana’s objective to attain Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
She advised the developed nations not to underestimate Low- and Middle-Income Countries proposed digital solutions to the myriad challenges in healthcare services delivery.
A team from the Ayawaso NHIS District Office led by the Manager, Freda Anokyewaa Reynolds mounted a booth at the symposium and demonstrated the Mobile Renewal Service usage to the participants.
It will be recalled that a similar forum on data analytics dubbed “NHIA Data Day” was celebrated on November 18, as part of the 2021 NHIS Week celebration.
As sponsored by PharmAccess Ghana, the event brought together stakeholders in the health sector at the Ghana Shippers Authority conference room in Accra. Other participants joined the forum via zoom.
The forum aimed at strengthening the NHIA’s capacity and to stimulate its ambition as a data- driven health insurer.
Source: ABDUL KARIM NAATOGMAH
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