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NPP’s promise on reviving NHIS ‘vague’ – IMANI

By CitiFMonline
Health NPPs promise on reviving NHIS vague – IMANI
AUG 26, 2016 LISTEN

The New Patriotic Party's promise of reviving the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) which they claimed is collapsing has been described as vague.

The description according to policy think tank, IMANI Ghana is because the party has failed to state in specific terms how they came by that conclusion that the scheme was collapsing.

Speaking at an event to launch a special report on analysis of campaign promises made by the various political parties in Accra on Thursday, Hubert Nii-Aponsah, Deputy Head at IMANI in charge of Political and Economic Affairs said the NPP current position on the NHIS issue cannot be assessed.

“Under social policy, [the NPP made] 3 promises, [which has one] one semi-quantifiable. This is one of the vague ones we found and there are several of them. They promised to revive collapsed NHIS. Again we need some clarifications. In what ways has the NPP found the NHIS to have collapsed? What have you seen what have you identified? What do you mean by the revival, in terms of the specific steps that you want to take to ensure that you resurrect it from the dead, so to say.”

NPP communicators including its flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo have on several platforms accused the Mahama-led government of collapsing what they say is the once vibrant NHIS established by the erstwhile Kufuor administration.

They complained that government has starved the scheme of funds thus crippling the health sector.

But President Mahama while on the campaign trail rejected the claim by the NPP and said the scheme has instead become very strong .

“Our political opponents say NHIS has collapsed. NHIS in 2008 saw 9 million outpatient visitations to hospitals. Last year, 2015, the NHIS has grown in outpatients visitations from 9 million to 29 million. How can that be a scheme that has collapsed? In 2008, the total amount of money that was paid to facilities for providing treatments to NHIA [National Health Insurance Authority] patients was GHc183 million. Last year, 2015, the total amount of money that was paid by NHIA to facilities across the country for treatments given to NHIA cardholders was more than GHc1 billion. How can that be a scheme that has collapsed?”


By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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