By Yussif Ibrahim
Kumawu (Ash), April 4, GNA – The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has opened a new office at Kumawu in the Sekyere Kumawu District of the Ashanti Region.
The state-of-the-art facility, which comes with modern equipment and logistics, is one of many offices being constructed in the region by the Authority as it steps up efforts to provide improved customer experience.
Residents of Kumawu, including traditional leaders, who were present in their numbers could not hide their excitement as the ribbon was cut to commission the edifice, which meant they would no longer travel to Effiduase where the nearest health insurance office is located.
Dr DaCosta Aboagye, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NHIA, who led a team of officials from the headquarters to join the Paramount Chief, Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua to commission the office, the new office was in line with the Authority’s vision to enhance service delivery.
He said it affirmed the commitment of the government to make healthcare accessible to Ghanaians.
Dr Aboagye said the opening of the office could not have come at a better time when the Kumawu District Hospital was almost completed and about to be inaugurated soon.
The newly appointed CEO said health promotion was going to be a priority under his leadership and proposed a basic medical health check for members of the scheme once a year to know about the health status on their day of birth.
“Members would be prompted by a simple text message so they could visit any health facility to check their vitals,” he explained.
The initiative, according to him, would lead to early detection and treatment of diseases, reduce medical claims on catastrophic diseases and ultimately help achieve the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals by 2030.
Dr Aboagye also spoke about plans to end illegal collection of money from clients at the facilities, a practice that he believes must not be allowed to continue under any circumstance.
“We are currently reviewing our tariffs to make sure that it commensurate with the increasing prices and once we do that no facility would have the moral right to charge any of our members in the benefits package that we are providing,” the CEO emphasised.
The Authority is also working towards the use of the Ghana card as the main card to access healthcare by members of the scheme in line with the government’s digitalisation agenda, Dr. Aboagye hinted.
To achieve this, he said, the NHIA was collaborating with the National Identification Authority (NIA) to print Ghana cards for children below 15 years, who were currently not being issued with the cards to ensure no one was left out of digitalisation drive.
Mr. Ernest Yaw Anim, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kumawu Constituency, said the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) during President John Agyekum Kuffour’s regime, was the biggest intervention in the health sector, which continued to benefit Ghanaians, especially the vulnerable.
He said the elimination of the ‘cash and carry’ system which used to deny many citizens access to healthcare remained one of the boldest decisions taken by any government under the Fourth Republic.
He commended the NHIA for the construction of the new office which would effectively end the situation where people in the constituency had to travel to Effiduase to access health insurance services.
Mr. Kwadwo Dwomoh, the Regional Director of NHIA, said the commissioning of the office marked a significant milestone towards the journey of providing accessible and affordable healthcare.
He paid glowing tribute to all stakeholders whose contributions led to the successful completion of the project with special appreciation to Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua and his elders for providing the land for the project.
GNA