The Government, through the Ministry of Finance, haspaid GHc100 million as part payment of arrears owed National HealthInsurance Scheme (NHIS) service, providers. This follows the Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana's threatto partially withdraw its services if government fail to pay the ninemonths to claim arrears. Mr Frank-Torblu Richard, General Secretary of the Private HealthFacilities Association of Ghana, told the GNA in an interview in Accraon Friday that the GHC100 million part-payment paid by the Governmentwas meant for both public and private health facilities. It was left with GHc50 million arrears to be paid. Last Tuesday, April 5, the Private Health Facilities Association ofGhana held a news conference and demanded that the Government of Ghanarelease funds to NHIA for immediate payment of claims to the healthcareservice providers of all arrears up to the month of December 2021. The request included outstanding payments owed from some healthfacilities for the period 2017 to 2020. The association demanded also that the Government reinstated thecollection of toll levy and direct any revenue realised to support theFree Senior High School programme to reduce the virement oradministrative transfer of NHIS levy revenue for other payments. It demanded that the National Health Insurance Authority expedited thereview of the medicine and service tariffs to reflect current marketvariables to enable health facilities to provide expected healthcare asenvisioned by the NHIA. And that, the Review Committee of the NHIA should have a fairrepresentation from the Private Health Facilities Association toguarantee the quality of the review outcome. "We request for a formal engagement with the Ministry of Health and thevarious health facility regulators to review/amend the credentialingthreshold on staffing requirements and the possible allocation to healthstaff to private facilities," it said. It said failure on the part of the Authority to comply with the settimelines, would not hesitate to partially withdraw services and thatNHIS clients will have to pay the full cost of drugs covered under thescheme to NHIS clients nationwide as a strategy for survival in thesetough times. "From our candid perspective on recent happenings with the scheme,Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana whose members are some ofthe biggest beneficiaries of the scheme portend doom as we canconfidently confirm without a doubt that the National Health InsuranceScheme finds itself in a precarious situation and in a serious state offinancial distress that needs an immediate lifeline if it will surviveas the only healthcare intervention serving the people of Ghana," theAssociation said. By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
