Ghanaians may return to the cash and carry system where persons have to pay before they access Health care, Center for democratic development, CDD Ghana has predicted.
According to the group, if public health services are not adequately funded, the cash and carry system will definitely return.
CDD, in a survey revealed that donor funding for preventive and public health services has diminished over the years.
In February 2018, the Health Insurance Providers Association of Ghana warned that they will return to the cash and carry system if the arrears owed them by the National Health Insurance Authority are not paid.
According to the association, the NHIA owes most of its members about 20 months of claims.
This situation, according to CDD Ghana demands that some funds are mobilized and expenditure properly looked at to save the healthcare system in the country.
Dr Kojo Asante, a research fellow at CDD Ghana in an interview on Citi News outlined the need for an immediate solution to the current problem facing the Scheme.
“The whole reason why we had the NHIS was to move from cash and carry but once you have the NHIS struggling to pay its service providers, then they have to pay out of the pocket and the trend is that, for a period, we were seeing an increase in out of pocket payments because the NHIS was under such dire stress.â€
“We have to find a solution to making the NHIS work if we want to be able to provide healthcare, and that is why it is critical that it has to be replaced and maintained. We need to look at the amount we put into it,†he said
Maenwhile, there have been proposals to increase the National health Insurance levy by 1% to fund the health service providers, however, scores of Ghanaians have kicked against it.
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