Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme: Insights from Members, Administrators and Health Care Providers

The Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was established as part of a poverty reduction strategy to make health care more affordable to Ghanaians. It is envisaged that it will eventually replace the existing cash-and-carry system. This paper examines the views of NHIS administrators, member...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2013-08, Vol.24 (3), p.1378-1390
Main Authors: Barimah, Kofi Bobi, Mensah, Joseph
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administrative Personnel - psychology
Children & youth
Corruption
Cost recovery
Female
Focus groups
Fraud
Ghana
Ghanaian people
Health care
Health insurance
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health Personnel - psychology
Health services
Health Services Accessibility
Hospitals
Humans
Insurance Coverage
Male
National health insurance
National Health Programs - organization & administration
Poverty
Qualitative Research
Studies
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Summary:The Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was established as part of a poverty reduction strategy to make health care more affordable to Ghanaians. It is envisaged that it will eventually replace the existing cash-and-carry system. This paper examines the views of NHIS administrators, members/enrollees, and health care providers on how the Scheme operates in practice. It is part of a larger evaluation project on Ghana's NHIS, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Development Network as part of a two-year global research. We rely primarily on qualitative data from focus group discussion in the Brong Ahafo and the Upper East regions respectively. Our findings suggest that the NHIS has improved access to affordable health care services and prescription drugs to many people in Ghana. However, there are concerns about fraud and corruption that must be addressed if the Scheme is to be financially viable.
ISSN:1049-2089
1548-6869
1548-6869
DOI:10.1353/hpu.2013.0144