Mr Windham Emil Afram, Western Regional Manager of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), on Wednesday said it was illegal for health facilities to charge fees for services covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

He was speaking at the 2012 Regional Annual Performance Review Meeting of the NHIS at Nkroful in the Ellembelle District.

The two-day meeting was attended by officials of NHIS including scheme managers, accountants and public relations officers.

Mr Afram said charging fees for services covered by the NHIS was illegal even when the NHIA had defaulted in paying for the services rendered to clients by health facilities.

He said the NHIA was doing its best to streamline procedure to ensure regular payment to health facilities.

Mr Afram said there were 17 National Health Insurance schemes in the region, 15 of which were active and the newly established Ellembelle and Akontombra National Health Insurance schemes would soon go into full operation.

He said the task ahead in the region was to increase subscription in all areas in order to bring health care to the doorsteps of the people.