By The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) is reassessing its medication inventory and tariffs to align with the current economic conditions of the country.
Dr. Dacosta Aboagye, the Chief Executive Officer of NHIA, stated that this is part of the strategies implemented to address the issue of unauthorized payments, commonly referred to as ‘copayments’, levied on beneficiaries of the insurance scheme.
In an interview with JoyNews, Dr. Dacosta Aboagye stated that the NHIA disbursed an average of GH₵180 million monthly as claims to healthcare facilities in March 2024.
This allocation aimed to facilitate the timely settlement of verified debts, ensuring that debt repayment remains within the stipulated 90-day period.
Despite the enhancements in payments to healthcare facilities, reports of unauthorized charges persist at some health institutions.
Dr. Aboagye emphasized that appropriate sanctions would be enforced following the implementation of incentives, including the revision of tariffs.
“In fact, it is actually not right that after the NHIA over the last year has made a commitment to pay the lower level tier up to December and the upper tier up to October, facilities are still charging our members, this is not right.
“We are currently reviewing our tariffs to make sure that it commensurate with the increasing prices. Once we do that, no facilities will have the moral right to charge any of our members in the benefit package that we have provided. Any provider who will go contrary to the agreed principles will be sanctioned,” he added.
Dr Da-costa Aboagye stressed that the needed systems will be instituted to automatically adjust tariffs to reflect economic changes.
