Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information, has expressed worry about the exorbitant expense of treatment for renal patients in the country.
The Minister proposed that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cover some of the costs spent by dialysis patients.
During an interview with Eyewitness News, Nkrumah emphasized the importance of the government covering some portions of the treatment, which is draining kidney patients’ cash.
As a result, he emphasized the significance of properly funding the NHIS Fund.
“The government is waiting on the management of Korle Bu to complete its internal work and come forward with what its position is. The conversation has been going on, and I personally suggested that whatever the amount comes to, it is a matter that the NHIS Fund should be able to pick up. To achieve that, we need to take a lot more seriously the financing of the NHIS Fund to take up incidents like this. The amount is not something an individual will be able to cater for considering the number of dialyses one has to go through in a month, without draining their finances extensively.”
The MP for Ofoase-Ayiribi lamented the absence of contributions to the NHIS Fund since its establishment by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
He also advised that funds collected on behalf of the Fund be automated to avoid any unexpected loopholes.
The MP for Ofoase-Ayiribi lamented the absence of contributions to the NHIS Fund since its establishment by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
He also advised that funds collected on behalf of the Fund be automated to avoid any unexpected loopholes.
“Today, the non-Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributor is paying GHC28 as an annual premium, and the SSNIT contributor is paying GHC8, as an annual premium, this is woefully inadequate. The NHIS levy that is collected on behalf of the NHIS Fund is not automatically remitted to the NHIS Fund. I believe that is something we also have a look at. We have never remitted 100% to the Fund since its introduction by former President Kufuor. I don’t think it’s honestly proper for us to collect monies in the name of the Fund and not remit those monies to the Fund. And it’s something both the National Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Party have been doing since the days of former President Kufuor. We need to bring some automaticity to the amount of monies we collect on behalf of the Fund. If you do it this way, we can have money from the Fund that can take care of these costs,” he opined.
The Renal Patients Association has reported that 14 outpatients of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital’s renal unit died after the clinic closed in May 2023.
At a press conference in Accra on Monday, a spokesperson for the Association, Michael Asante, informed journalists that the fatalities were caused by the patients’ inability to receive dialysis therapy at private dialysis centers, which is more expensive than treatment at the hospital.
Patients with kidney failure who visited the facility’s Renal Unit for dialysis sessions were charged a new price of GH765 in addition to the prior fee of GH385.
The ministry summoned the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital’s management to explain why the additional fee was implemented without appropriate process.
The hospital has come under fire following news of a review of its dialysis charges.
