President John Dramani Mahama has warned healthcare facilities that they risk sanctions if they continue to demand additional payments from patients for services covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He has directed the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to step up its monitoring of health facilities and take action against providers found charging subscribers unauthorised fees.
The President disclosed that he had received complaints from NHIS subscribers who were allegedly required to pay money for healthcare services even after presenting their insurance cards.
Addressing the 68th Annual General Meeting of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), he expressed concern about the practice, insisting that patients should not be made to pay extra for services covered by their insurance.
“I’ve just received complaints that despite the fact that people present their NHIS cards, still money is extracted from them before they receive service. The NHIA is putting a service and going from facility to facility, and any facility caught charging extra fees outside the insurance will be dealt with,” he said.
President Mahama said the NHIA would undertake monitoring exercises across healthcare facilities to identify providers violating the terms of the scheme.
He stressed that the government would not tolerate practices that undermine the NHIS and place additional financial burdens on subscribers seeking medical attention.
Beyond the issue of unauthorised charges, the President called for increased efforts to eliminate fraud and waste within the insurance scheme.
He said the government remained committed to supporting both the NHIA and healthcare providers to ensure that resources allocated to the scheme were properly managed and used for their intended purposes.
President Mahama further observed that the improved financial predictability of the NHIS should make it possible for healthcare facilities to plan effectively, purchase medical supplies and sustain healthcare delivery.
He said facilities should therefore be able to meet their operational needs without resorting to additional charges that are not authorised under the insurance scheme.
The directive signals a renewed government effort to strengthen enforcement and protect NHIS subscribers from out-of-pocket payments for services covered by their insurance.
