Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has said the persistent challenges facing Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) are not due to a lack of funding.
Rather, he said they stemmed from issues with software providers managing the scheme’s digital infrastructure.
The clarification came in response to a request by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Weija-Gbawe, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, who wanted the Health Minister to appear before Parliament next week to brief members on the ongoing disruptions affecting NHIS operations.
In what appeared to be a revealing exchange during last Friday’s parliamentary sitting in Accra, Mr. Ayariga stated, “The problem is not money. The NHIS has funds. The real issue is with the software providers who are failing to deliver a reliable system.”
He emphasised that technical failures had led to frequent system downtimes, frustrating healthcare providers and patients alike.
Mr. Shaib had earlier raised alarm over the persistent breakdowns in NHIS systems, which had disrupted access to healthcare services across the country.
The Weija-Gbawe Legislator called for urgent intervention, noting that many constituents are unable to access care due to verification challenges and delays in claims processing.
“The Health Minister must come here and explain what is being done to fix this,” Mr. Shaib insisted, urging Parliament to treat the matter as a national priority.
The NHIS has faced mounting criticisms in recent months over its digital infrastructure.
Hospitals and pharmacies have reported frequent outages in the claims and verification systems, leading to service delays and out-of-pocket payments by insured patients.
Mr. Ayariga’s remarks shift the focus from financial constraints to technical accountability, raising questions about the performance and oversight of contracted software vendors.
Parliament is expected to summon the Health Minister next week to provide a comprehensive briefing on the NHIS’s operational challenges and outline steps being taken to resolve the software issues.
As Ghana continues to expand access to universal healthcare, the reliability of NHIS systems remains critical to public trust and service delivery.
