Begoro, (E/R) Aug. 27, GNA - The Fanteakwa District Health Insurance Scheme would pay over 80 million cedis as hospital fees to two Health Institutions in the district for the months of June and July this year.

The District Manager of the Scheme, Mr Eugene Opoku Afrifa, made this known at the mid-year performance Review Meeting of Health workers at Begoro on Thursday.

Mr Afrifa said 64,835,500 cedis would be paid to the Begoro District hospital and 16,134,000 would go to the Begoro Salvation Army Clinic.

He said a record of 435 patients attended the District hospital and 99 attended the Salvation Army clinic in June and July this year. Mr Afrifa said 10,224 members have so far registered with the scheme out of a population of 86,154 when the scheme took off in June, this year.

He said new registrations would be opened in September this year, and it was estimated that between 40,000 and 50,000 people would be covered this year.

Mr Afrifa said the district had signed contract with the Koforidua Regional hospital for referral cases while efforts were underway to sign other contracts with the Kibi and New Tafo Akim hospitals to enable members of the scheme who live closer to those hospitals to get free medical treatment there. Mr Africa said the inability of the government to provide subsidies for the exempt groups and the workers social security contributions was threatening the financial position of the scheme in the district. He, therefore, appealed to the government to honour its obligations to make the scheme operate without hindrance.