NHIS MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL GOES DIGITAL 11th December, 2018
NHIS MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL GOES DIGITAL 11th December, 2018
The National Health Insurance Authority [NHIA], is set to
implement a nation-wide scale-up of a new product on its services platform
known as, the NHIS Mobile Membership Renewal & Authentication Project. This
mobile renewal of membership on the Scheme which has since been operational,
will be officially launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo next
Wednesday, December 19, 2018.
At a stakeholders’ meeting held in Bolgatanga with the media,
some selected organisations and other strategic regional Heads of Department, a
Deputy Director of Corporate Affairs at the NHIA Headquarters, Mr. Oswald
Essuah-Mensah stated
that the scale-up of the Project comes on the background of a successful pilot
implemented in the West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region and in the Asuogyamang
District of the Eastern Region during the early parts of this year.
He explained that under this new mobile membership renewal project,
an NHIS client can easily renew his or her membership from anywhere across
Ghana using any mobile phone registered to any mobile money service. He added
that a person with any type of mobile phone as far as that phone is registered
to a mobile money service, could also do the NHIS membership renewal for a
client by sending a text to the Short Code *929# and following simple prompts
thereafter.
The Corporate Affairs Officer called on stakeholders to
embrace the mobile renewal service stressing that, it held good benefits for all
including the clients, the service providers and the Scheme itself. He noted
for instance that, it will bring about reduced waiting time for clients,
reduced transportation costs
since there won’t be any travels to Scheme offices and also, reduction in
income losses as members can spend quality time doing business while texting to
renew their cards. He added that, the Authority will send periodic “Reminder”
text messages to members at least twice in a year to alert them of their expiry
dates so as not to be taken unawares.
The NHIA Officers from the HQ [Mr. Oswald- Spectacles on hand & Mr Ben Kusi - With Fingers Locked] |
Touching on how the renewals via mobile phones will benefit
NHIS Service Providers, Mr. Essuah-Mensah said it will afford them reliable
digital verification of expiry dates, allow for the use of simple inexpensive
devices with low maintenance costs, bring about improved claims management as
well as allow for digital attendance records to be taken with ease. Meanwhile,
the NHIA itself targets to lower its operational costs, increase its Scheme
penetration, reduce revenue leakages in the system and also, induce better
Claims Governance through the Project’s implementation. He hinted that the
Authority also plans to deploy some staff to the Service Provider points to
assist clients whenever necessary.
According to him, a broad goal of the NHIA is to achieve Universal
Health Care by year 2030 through improved access to affordable, quality healthcare
for all residents in Ghana and to improve the financial sustainability of the Scheme
by reducing registration bottlenecks and cost to the NHIA through
implementation of pragmatic programmes such as the mobile renewal project. Meanwhile,
the Specific Objectives of the digitisation of the membership renewals targets
to increase renewal and enrolment rates by 20 percent within one year, enhance
customer experience by reducing renewal time by up to 95 percent, to create
awareness for the short code [*929#] and to enhance education on the renewal
& authentication processes among NHIS Staff, Providers and Members.
The Corporate Affairs officer appealed to the media to
educate the general public about the service benefits to Members, the Scheme
and the Providers and also, to encourage all healthcare providers to embrace
the project by adopting and signing onto it. He however cautioned the public to
be weary of potential fraudsters who may want to dupe unsuspecting people
emphasising that “the service is free, never give your PIN away”. He also
called on the Telcos to expand coverage of their networks to at least all
Service Provider sites in order to enable the mobile renewal project to succeed.
Director of Membership and Regional Operations at the NHIA,
Mr. Ben Kusi in his remarks urged all members of the NHIS to regularly update
their records such as phone numbers, so as to ease communication and other
forms of engagements between them and the Scheme. He observed that with the
full cooperation and signing up of Service Providers and members, the project
will become efficient and will enhance audit efforts aimed at eradicating
fraudulent claims and other financial misappropriations in the system.
Mr. Kusi also revealed that the Authority had recruited five
lawyers who have since been trained by the Attorney General’s [AG] Department
and that, a FIAT was expected soon from the AG’s office to give clearance for
the NHIA to prosecute its own cases. He noted that, this will deter staff of
the NHIA and service providers alike from contemplating or actually indulging
in any financial malfeasance. He
disclosed that there were 540 medicines on the NHIS Medicines List for
prescription to members and added that, all health facilities were obliged
“ethically not to turn away any patient during emergencies because of absence
of an Insurance Card or inability to pay at that point in time”.
Upper East Regional Director of the NHIA, Mr. Sebastian
Alagpulinsa, asked the media to contact his office any time they needed
clarification about issues on the new mobile membership renewal project and any
other matters concerning the workings of the NHIS in the region. He observed
that as its often the case with new interventions, there may be few challenges
with the implementation but was quick to add that, these would be rectified in
time.
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