6% of GHS 2bn NHIS fund disbursed in 2021
A latest report has disclosed that out of the GHC2b collected as fund for the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), only 6% of the total amount was received in 2021.
According to the Committee of the Whole report on the proposed formula for the disbursement of the National Health Insurance Fund for 2022, only GHS 127.47 million out of GHS 2 billion collected was released to the Authority in 2021.
A situation the Parliamentary Committee on Health describes as its affecting efficient health delivery in the country.
The report further revealed that in 2020, the authority received 66.1% of what was collected, slightly higher than the 42.9% received in 2019.
On the back of this development, the committee, in its report, urged the Ministry of Finance ‘to desist from the practice’.
It indicated the NHIA Act mandates the Minister of Finance to, within 30 days after the collection of the levy, cause the levy to be paid directly into the fund, and furnish the minister responsible for health, and the authority, with evidence of payment.
Furthermore, the NHIA Act enjoins the minister responsible for finance to present to Parliament, every six months, a report on the payment of levies into the fund.
Also, the NHIA is seeking to earn GHS 2 million in 2022 from verifying the credentials of healthcare providers; GHS 1.17 million from the sale of tender documents; GHS 0.01 million from NAVIS Application fees, GHS 0.37 million from donations.
Other sources of revenue are; NHIL & SSNIT contribution of GHS 2.6 billion, Premium (informal) – GHS 111.51million; processing fees – GHS 85.36; commission – mobile renewal – GHS 8.06million; income on investment – GHS 12.3million; road accident fund – GHS 0.29million, and other income – GHS 2million.
The report also detailed the summary of the proposed formula for disbursement of the fund for 2022 as follows: Claims for the year – GHS 1.6 billion, NHIA Operational Expenses – GHS 390million, and Support to District Offices – GHS 45million.
The Health Committee of Parliament, before it went on recess earlier this month, was informed of the government’s policy to cut expenditure of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) by 30% from GHS 3.6 billion to GHS 2.6 billion.
However, during its deliberation on the formula, the Health Committee objected to the 30% cut, as it was not in line with the general 20% expenditure cut announced by the government.
The allocation was reviewed, and the 30% cut was eventually revised to 20% as requested by the committee.
The report further revealed that GH¢85million has been allocated for Malaria Control Programmes in 2022. The committee was of the view that the Malaria Control Programme is very essential to the health of Ghanaians, as Malaria remains the highest killer disease in the country.
It, therefore, recommended that the authority and the Ministry of Health invest more in malaria control by allocating more resources to the programme.
It further recommended that the NHIA undertake a pilot on the IRS programme in, at least, two districts in Ghana this year to enable donor partners to assist in the scaling up of the programme.
The committee also noted with concern, the delay in accrediting newly commissioned health facilities, which is creating a challenge among citizens trying to access affordable healthcare.
