The Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Aboagye DaCosta, has reaffirmed that an amount of GHC2 million has been made available to support needy renal patients.
He said the amount will kick in on June 1, 2024, as mechanisms are being put in place to facilitate a successful implementation spanning the next six months.
Dozens of dialysis patients have been forced to skip their life-saving treatments due to an increase in cost.
The price hike, from 380 to 491, has rendered the treatment unaffordable for many, plunging them into a desperate situation.
These patients, already grappling with the challenges of managing their health conditions, now find themselves in an impossible dilemma.
However, Dr. Aboagye, in an interview , on Wednesday, indicated that the amount would cover two sessions of treatment for patients at Korle Bu, Komfo Anokye and the Cape Coast Hospital.
“In fact the money is available it is just the mechanisms, we are looking at 1st June, we are almost there. All I need now is to develop the VRG codes so that when the patients go to the hospitals or facilities, they can access it.
“We are doing this because we believe that obviously we need to support, as part of our corporate social responsibility or on compassionate grounds, we need to do something,” he stated.
ccording to him, while the authority is awaiting the full report, which would detail the entire cost of dialysis treatment projected over years to determine the sustainability of the support, “For the next six months this is what we can [do to] support the patients.”
“We noted that about 80 percent of the patients on dialysis come from Korle Bu. There is a philanthropist that supports them with about 380 [Cedis]. So for the 111.00, looking at the fact that the majority of the patients are coming from Korle Bu, when you work it out based on the money we had, we knew that we could support only two sessions, which comes to 222.00 because of the numbers.”
Per the new arrangements, renal patients would not pay any fee for dialysis for two sessions at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
Responding to the impact of the amount on the authority’s budgetary allocation, Dr. Aboagy DaCosta stated that the amount is “insignificant on our budget,” adding that the GHC2 million has received parliamentary approval.
“It has been approved by Parliament so the money is there for us to use but I must say that over the years, if you look at the trajectory, the insurance scheme has actually improved in terms of claim payment.
“We pay an average of between 180 and 250 million [Cedis] every month to facilities, it is significant in terms of how much money we pay and at the moment we are on track in terms of our payments,” he noted.
