The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has disbursed close to GHC1 billion to health service providers nationwide in 2025, the NHIAs acting chief executive officer, Victor Asare Bampoe, has announced, highlighting the government’s renewed push towards universal health coverage.
Asare Bampoe made this known during a working tour of the Bono Region, where he visited various NHIA offices and health facilities in his broad effort to engage front-line staff, assess operations and understand health-care delivery challenges at the regional level.
“Government is making it a priority to position the NHIA as a key driver in the journey toward achieving universal health coverage,” Dr Asare Bampoe said during an engagement with management of the Sunyani Teaching Hospital.
The NHIA boss reaffirmed the authority’s commitment to ensuring timely reimbursement of claims to health providers to keep the national health insurance scheme running efficiently.
“So far this year, we’ve disbursed close to a billion Ghana cedis to service providers across the country,” he said. “With continued government support, we will do more to ensure prompt payments and improve service delivery.”
During his visit to Sunyani Teaching Hospital, Dr Asare Bampoe was briefed by the hospital’s chief executive officer, Dr Cardinal Newton, who told him that over 85% of patients at the facility rely on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Dr Newton added that the hospital is working to mobilise funds internally to reduce dependency on NHIA claims, but called for more timely reimbursement.
Importance of public trust
“We’re grateful for the support we receive through the NHIS, but timely claims payment is critical to sustaining operations,” Dr Newton said. “We are also appealing for more dialysis machines to meet the increasing demand from patients.”
Dr Newton also noted that the hospital employs close to 3,000 health workers and remains committed to staff welfare as part of its quality health-care strategy.
The NHIA chief executive also used the tour to voice concern over the growing trend of co-payments, under which some service providers charge NHIS subscribers additional fees for services that are supposed to be covered in full.
“Co-payment is becoming a worrying development. We’re investigating and addressing these cases, because they undermine public trust in the insurance scheme,” he said.
Dr Asare Bampoe further announced that the NHIA has begun a human resource audit to address the problem of stagnation in promotion among health staff.
“We’ve heard the concerns of many health workers about delayed promotions. A comprehensive HR audit is under way to help resolve these issues fairly and transparently,” he said.
The acting CEO also visited the NHIA Bono Regional Office, where he announced plans to renovate district offices and expand coverage by opening additional NHIA offices in underserved areas.
Committed to the vision
His tour continued at the Berekum Municipal NHIA Office, where he assessed staff performance, infrastructure and client engagement strategies.
He wrapped up the tour with a regional staff durbar, bringing together NHIA officers from all 12 districts and municipalities in Bono. At the event, he encouraged staff to stay committed to the vision of the Authority and echoed his promise of improved welfare and logistics.
“This tour has been about listening, understanding and reaffirming our commitment to both our staff and the people we serve,” Dr Asare Bampoe said.
The NHIA has played a pivotal role in propping up Ghana’s health-care delivery system. With the latest disbursement and reforms, it hopes to bring the country closer to achieving universal health coverage by 2030.
Report by Daniel Donkor for Asaase News in the Bono Region
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