An Assessment of the National Health Insurance Scheme in the Sekyere South District, Ghana

Abstract

As part of government’s pro-poor strategy to increase access to and improve the quality of basic healthcare services, the National Health Insurance Act (National Health Insurance Authority, 2003, 2010 and 2013) was passed in 2003. The study assessed 379 heads of household, 5 heads of health facilities and the scheme managements’ perception on quality of health service delivery, implementation of the capitation programme, operation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and performance of scheme operators and service providers in the Sekyere South District of Ghana. Findings indicate that 73.9% of the heads of household had registered for NHIS and out of this figure 74.5% had renewed their cards. Despite a high renewal level, 30.3% are not satisfied with the services provided. With the introduction of the capitation grant, 25% of private service providers have withdrawn their services due to inadequate per capita payment on the scheme and 17.3% of the heads of household had difficulty in tracing their names at their preferred choice of health facility which have the tendency of affecting the sustainability of the NHIS. The study therefore recommends that, the National Health Insurance Authority should ensure upward adjustment of the monthly per capita payment made to service providers to reflect reality and also intensify education on the capitation policy for both service providers and the scheme beneficiaries.