The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has received $27.7 million in concessional funding from the World Bank to enhance services, particularly for the disadvantaged.

This funding aims to expand the scheme's coverage, enroll more individuals from underprivileged backgrounds, and facilitate swift processing and settlement of claims for primary health care (PHC) providers.

The primary health care providers encompass community-based health planning services (CHPS) compounds, health centers, and maternity homes operating within the framework of the Primary Health Care Improvement initiative.

Known as the "Programme for Results" (PforR), the funding was allocated by the World Bank with additional backing from other donors associated with the Global Financing Facility consortium.

Enoch Oti Agyekum, a health economist at the World Bank, confirmed the funding during a claims management training event in Accra. He emphasized that while increasing the number of beneficiaries, especially among the marginalized, was vital, ensuring the quality of services provided was equally significant.

Agyekum noted that data from a public expenditure review conducted by the World Bank revealed that over 80 percent of the facilities under the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) were comprised of health centers, maternity homes, and CHPS compounds.

However, these facilities represented only 17 percent of claims made to the NHIA.

He explained that primary health care facilities faced challenges in processing claims efficiently, particularly because many patients seeking care were unable to afford co-payments due to their impoverished status.

Agyekum stressed that improving claims payment processes could foster trust between the NHIS and healthcare facilities across all tiers of care. He highlighted the NHIS's pivotal role in upholding the social contract between the government and citizens.

Acting Corporate Affairs Director of the NHIS, Oswald Essuah-Mensah, disclosed that the NHIA would collaborate with the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, and Health Facility Regulatory Authority (HeFRA) to enhance healthcare provider accreditation, monitoring, and financing for primary healthcare services.

Essuah-Mensah also highlighted ongoing collaboration between the NHIA and the Social Protection Directorate of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to boost enrollment among vulnerable populations such as disabled individuals, orphans, widows, and women and children.

Under the leadership's new vision, the NHIS aims to establish a resilient health insurance scheme that offers accessible, quality, and affordable healthcare services on a sustainable basis.

The strategy toward achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) involves adopting "pro-poor pathway" interventions within the legal framework, requiring all Ghanaians to register with the NHIS.

In pursuit of this goal, the NHIS Chief Executive, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, along with his deputies and directors, completed a nationwide tour to engage with staff and the public, discussing ways to strengthen the NHIS's role in advancing UHC in Ghana.