Source: newsthemegh.com
Despite the establishment of the National Health Insurance System, the Minister of Health, Mr. Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, has expressed dissatisfaction with the restoration of the “Cash and Carry” system in the majority of healthcare facilities nationwide (NHIS).
He mentioned that practically all medical facilities do not accept health insurance cards and said that subscribers have frequently complained about the care they receive at some of these facilities.
Mr. Manu pointed out that some of the subscribers pay more than GHC 1,000 to undergo surgery at some clinics, despite the fact that the plan covers Cesarean Sections (CS).
He called it “sad” because the poor people in society, not the middle class, were the ones who launched the idea.
On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, he made a plea to the head of these institutions to consider the interests of the lower class by adopting the health insurance card at the first Senior Managers of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) meeting in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital.
The system has been delaying payments, he acknowledged, but every attempt is being made to get some money paid on time so that the facilities can continue.
In the meanwhile, he worriedly questioned, “Why should we extort from the poor people?”
Mr. Agyeman-Manu also voiced concerns about the country’s majority of healthcare facilities falsifying their medication lists. He said that oxytocin, which is administered following childbirth, is the most often counterfeited medicine in most hospitals.
According to Mr. Manu, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) is asking his organization for permission to publicly humiliate such health centers throughout the nation. The minister also lamented the frequency with which the government gets sued for medical malpractice committed by medical personnel.
For the past four weeks, he claimed, they have received at least one letter from the Attorney General’s office about a lawsuit brought about by issues with the delivery of healthcare.