Clients’ perception on national health insurance scheme in jomoro district

Abstract

The National Health Insurance Scheme was introduced in 2003 with the passing of the National Health Insurance Act, Act 650, with the objective of improving healthcare delivery services to all residents in Ghana, especially the poor and the vulnerable in society upon realising the problem that the ‘cash and carry’ was posing in healthcare delivery. The study therefore examined how clients perceived the services of national health insurance scheme, the basic healthcare services received from healthcare providers by clients and staff relationship with clients in the Jomoro District. Data was collected from 150 clients of the District scheme through questionnaire administration, interviews and observations. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and SPSS software package. The study revealed that NHIS is working to improve the health status of Ghanaians, by reducing financial barrier and promoting access to basic healthcare. Clients were satisfied with the premium fees and staff behaviour. However, there were long waiting times for registration, renewal of memberships and the issuance of NHIS membership cards. There is lack of knowledge on NHIS benefits package; and non availability of drugs at health facilities due to delay in reimbursement of claims. The study recommends for an urgent need for NHIA to streamline the reimbursement procedure to curb the delay in claims payment, spearhead the biometric registration programme, a periodical review of the benefit package and drugs list; and intensive education on the minimum benefit package by the district scheme.