THE Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has appealed to healthcare providers to refrain from submitting fictitious huge claims for payment to prevent a possible collapse of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He said proper management of the scheme could help generate enough revenue that would not only take care of the health of the people, but could also improve health infrastructure across the country and provide health facilities in areas that lacked them.
"Huge claims, a lot of which were fictitious, were being made and if we had not put in place the necessary processes and weeded out such claims, as well as ensure that there is accountability in the system, the scheme would have collapsed one day," the Vice-President said.
Speaking at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Ghana Nurses' Association in Koforidua on Saturday, Mr Mahama said "the scheme was on the verge of collapse because we have not been accountable in the handling of the scheme since its implementation".
The event, which was on the theme, "Moving Nursing and Midwifery to a Professional Excellence", was also used to inaugurate a GH¢935,000 four-storey building, which is the association's second hostel complex in the country.
The edifice would serve as an accommodation and offices for the members of the association.
The second phase of the project would involve the construction of a conference hall and a library complex soon.
The event was also used to honour 10 nurses from all the regions who had distinguished themselves in the profession over the years.
He recalled that when the government assumed office last year, many healthcare providers threatened not to offer services to NHIS card holders any longer because of the huge debt of the scheme.
He, however, gave an assurance that the government had put in place a more accountable system to ensure that when claims were made, they would be met promptly.
On the one-time premium payment, the Vice-President gave an assurance that the government was feverishly working on it.
The Vice-President also appealed to trained nurses to accept posting to rural parts of the country in order to make healthcare delivery more accessible to the people.
He, however, assured them of the government’s commitment to enhance their conditions of service and remunerate them appropriately so as to encourage them to stay in the country and contribute their quota towards its development.
Mr Mahama commended the members of the association for their distinguished services to the nation in the past 50 years and expressed the hope that they would upgrade themselves to enable them to show more professionalism in the discharge of their duties.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, expressed worry over the lack of health personnel in certain parts of the country and suggested the recruitment of retired nurses to complement the few health professionals in the affected areas to improve healthcare delivery.
He also appealed to nurses to be vigilant and help reduce the corruption associated with the NHIS, saying "you must ensure that all claims are verified before they are submitted for payment".
The President of the GRNA, Mrs Alice D. Asare-Allotey, said since the establishment of the association, there had been a unification of all nursing and midwifery professionals, who had demonstrated true professionalism in the discharge of their services to the country.
The president called on stakeholders to help improve the conditions of service of the nurses to enable them to stay in the country and contribute to quality healthcare delivery.
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