The National Health Insurance Authority has said plans are ongoing to synchronize the scheme with the Ghana Card.

This implies that a subscriber may not be required to go through another biometric registration with the NHIA to become a member of the Scheme since that information will be tapped in the database of the National Identification Authority.

“It is envisaged that sooner than later, NHIS card will not be issued anymore it will be synchronized into the Ghana Card.There have been technical meetings in realization of this system,” Head of Corporate Affairs at the NHIA, Oswald Esseah Mensah revealed this during engagement with major stakeholder of the Scheme in Koforidua on the yet to be introduced NHIS Mobile Membership Renewal Service.

He said the Mobile Membership Renewal Service when launched in December this year would enable members to renew their NHIS membership by paying their premium and fee via mobile money through the Short Code*929#. Membership cards of those who choose to renew via mobile will not be embossed with the expiry dates.

Oswald Mensah said the move is part of innovative initiatives by current management of the Scheme to increase renewal and enrollment rate from current peak of 10.58 active membership by 20% within a year,enhance customer experience by reducing renewal time by 95% and cost by subscribers while maximizing income for the scheme,reduce operational Cost,increase scheme penetration and block financial leakages.

He said the Mobile Renewal Service has been successfully piloted via short code *842*10# in Asuogyaman and West Mamprusi where 21,500 subscribers representing close to 60% renewed their cards using the mobile service at the comfort of their homes.

Mr. Mensah stated that,when the Mobile Membership Renewal Service is rolled out in December , subscribers will be required to validate their hospital attendance on their mobile phones as part of mechanism to check duplicate payment of claims and fraud.

He said Subscribers will receive reminder SMS twice whenever they cards are about to be expired.

Pregnant Women/Indegents excluded

According to the Head of Corporate Affairs at the NHIA,Oswald Mensah, the mobile Renewal Service will be available on all networks at charge of Ghc1 for all subscribers except pregnant women and Indigents who will be required to go through manual process for authentication purpose .

He said the NHIA has put in place enough measures and captured about 517 drugs under the scheme to make it efficient to help Ghana Achieve Universal Health care by 2030 and therefore cautioned health facilities engaged in acts such as false claims and poor service that undermine the Scheme.