The Head of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr Samuel Annor has called on service providers to stop charging and collecting unapproved fees from clients of the authority.

“As service providers, let’s not take advantage of the generality of the people who access the scheme and charge unapproved fees to these vulnerable groups who access healthcare in our facilities”, he added.

Dr Annor during a visit to the Western Region on the seven-leg of his ten-regional tour to engage organised labour and service providers on new ways to finance the health insurance scheme said, the authority was committed to paying all backlogs, “do not overburden the generality of people, we are ready to pay all debts”.

The National Health Insurance scheme according to the CEO had suffered some financial crisis over the years and there was the need to remodel the scheme through a more sustainable approach to ensure the scheme’s longevity.

He said health care continued to be the greatest gift of nature which must be jealously protected adding, “This is why health for all policy must apply to all and free as much as possible”.

Dr Annor said with the increasing life expectancy of the Ghanaian meant that the scheme had to be strengthened in terms of sustainable financing to create more reserves for the teeming number of people on the scheme.

"Put in place an 'internal police force' to make it difficult for people to steal from the scheme, enhance electronic processing as well as beefing up the legal framework that established the authority".

The CEO of the NHIA stressed the need to depoliticise the operations of the scheme and make it a no-go area for corrupt individuals, whilst Ghanaians take ownership and become more interested in the running of the scheme to reduce corruption and promote transparency and accountability.

Earlier in a meeting, the Western Regional Minister, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, assured Dr Annor of the Region’s preparedness to be used as a crucible for experimenting any new idea that would develop the activities of the NHIA.

Dr Yaw Baah, Secretary of the Ghana Trade Union Congress was grateful for the engagement with organised labour and added that the Union would soon present a paper to be incorporated in the financing mechanisms.

Dr Richard Anthony, Acting Medical Director of the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital confirmed the prompt payment by the Authority and appealed that some sicknesses be adopted by the scheme to give relief to patients with such conditions.