By Lawrencia Akoto Frempong / Ruth Dery
Tema, April 17, GNA – The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has stepped up efforts to promote equitable health care, irrespective of an individual’s socio-economic features.
“We must reduce the human-induced sicknesses, we must protect the environment, we must undertake regular exercise, we must eat a balanced diet, and we must avoid dangerous lifestyles,” Mr. Confidence Owusu-Kontor, the Acting Director of NHIS Oti Region, has stated.
Speaking in an interview with Ghana News Agency in Tema and Mr Owusu-Kontor stressed that a healthy lifestyle is irreplaceable: “Let us all together work to ensure that we work and walk in a healthy environment.”
The NHIS Oti Regional Director stressed that it is also important for everyone to know the benefit packages and services to which they are entitled to prevent being cheated by health care service providers.
He emphasized that the NHIS covers 97 percent of all disease conditions in Ghana, except for specific branded medicines demanded by a patient, which come with an extra cost.
He charged Ghanaians to prioritize health needs, take measures to plan for unseen circumstances, and “take personal responsibility for your health.” “It is important we make a conscious determination to live and undertake healthy practices”.
Mr. Owusu-Kontor encouraged the media to continually educate the public on the usage and benefits of the “MyNHIS App” to discourage people from trooping to the NHIA office for basic services they can easily undertake in the comfort of their homes.
The NHIA Oti Regional Director reiterated that as part of the general measures to make health care accessible, the authority has launched the “MyNHIS App,” which was a deliberate initiative designed to help citizens within the country prioritize their health needs, making it convenient, and comfortable to access health care.
“Aside from the fact that the app is user-friendly and comfortable for members to rule on, it is also a cost-containing measure that reduces the overhead cost of the operations for NHIA,” he said.
Mr. Owusu-Kontor explained that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) membership cards are dollar dominated and imported at high cost.
He said the app had recouped the cost and breached the funding gap for cost elements like printing data on cards, stickers, and other machinery used for developing membership cards.
“The app has cut the cost of transportation and time when people move to stations to register or renew their NHIS.” “It has also allowed access to benefit packages like maternity care, generic medicines, diagnostic testing, and emergency care,” he said.
Adding that the app gives clarity to the services offered by NHIS for accessing any credited health facility.
GNA