Mr Francis Oti Frempong, Central Regional Director of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), has embarked on a special familiarization tour of the 13 municipal and district health insurance schemes in the region.

This is to acquaint himself with the operational challenges and the achievements of the schemes. Mr Frempong in an address to the workers at the Awutu Senya branch of the NHIA at Winneba, said the tour was to afford him the opportunity to discuss and gather vital information from individual schemes to buttress his plans to build upon what his predecessor left to advance the NHIA policy.

He advised managements of the various insurance schemes in the region to use prudent financial management methods as effective tool to ensure their continued efficient, effective and successful operations.

The Regional Director cautioned workers of the schemes against all negative administrative and financial practices, potential for creating serious socio-economic challenges for the Authority, which eventually carve a bad image for them.

He pointed out that although the region has not performed badly in terms of the implementation of the aims and objectives of the National Health Insurance Policy over the past decade, frantic efforts were still required from the entire NHIA workforce in the region, so that collectively they could attain a higher rank when the operations of the various schemes are being assessed at the end of the year.

Mr Frempong said that to attain this goal, workers of the NHIA must use hard work, dedication, commitment and above all, devotion to duty as their hallmark to enable them to play their individual and collective roles properly and effectively in the various departments they have been positioned.

He also counseled NHIA workers in the region to foster excellent client-worker relationship among the workforce and the general public, capable of sustaining the trust and confidence, which the citizenry, especially the poor and the vulnerable have reposed in the health insurance policy.

Mr Frempong commended workers of the Awutu Effutu Senya branch of the NHIA for their hard work which virtually ranked the branch first in the Central Region last year and seventh nationally, when the operations of the various schemes nationwide were assessed during the 2013 operational period.

He however warned workers of the branch scheme against complacency since such attitude could undermine the excellent achievements they have chalked for the scheme. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview later, the Regional Director assured all NHIA service providers in the region that apart from the January claims, frantic efforts were underway to settle more of the outstanding claims which the NHIA owe to the providers.

He expressed his deepest appreciation to the providers for the patience and support they have accorded to the policy in the region, and appealed to them to support the operations of the scheme. So far, the tour has taken Mr Frempong and his team of senior regional management officials, including the Regional Accountant, Mr Emmanuel Nkrumah, to seven out of the 13 schemes in the Central Region.