By: Nana Antwi Boasiako
The Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana has warned that it will limit its services to National Health Insurance Scheme patients unless the government settles outstanding claims, which have accumulated for ten months.
In a recently issued statement, the Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana has presented the government with a set of demands, warning that if their requests are not promptly addressed, they will be forced to withdraw their services, potentially disrupting healthcare access for numerous patients.
“Following on from our recently released statement on 28th May, 2024 explicitly narrating the challenges of the private health sector in relation to claims reimbursement by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), predicated on this, the Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana (PHFAoG) issued an ultimatum to the Authority which ended on 7th June, 2024 to clear all the arrears for the periods November, 2023 to February 2024 (including instances of unpaid claims spanning 10 months and beyond),” part of the statement highlighted.
The Association wants the government to settle all arrears due service providers to enable them adequately finance efficient and quality Healthcare services to all and also the NHIA must expedite the review and subsequent release of a realistic services and medicines tariffs to curtail the out-of-pocket payments by NHIS clients.
In an interview with Happyghana.com, Dr. Samuel Boakye Donkor, Vice President of the Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana (PHFAoG), revealed that following Tuesday’s press release, they noticed graphics circulating this morning that the government has allocated funds to settle their debts. However, further investigation revealed that the amount is only 30 million Ghana cedis, which falls short of their expectations.
The association is now waiting to see if the funds will be credited to their account by this evening; otherwise, they will proceed with their planned partial withdrawal of services.