Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Hospital and Kabsad Hospital, have refunded money illegally taken from National Health Insurance clients who were forced to pay money before receiving treatment at the hospital.
It would be recalled that the refund exercise started on November 16, 2023, where West Hospital, One Heart Health Centre and Global Medical Laboratory were the first health facilities to refund the ‘stolen’ monies to the victims.
The above-mentioned facilities were among the six (6) hospitals who were caught ‘stealing’ money from NHIS subscribers in the Tamale Metropolis.
The victims were given amounts ranging from Ghc380, and Ghc400, Ghc 180, among others. The money was refunded through the intervention of the management of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in the Tamale Metropolis.
The Tamale Metropolitan NHIS conducted a monitoring and evaluation exercise earlier this year among the accredited hospitals within the Metropolis. However, during the exercise, it was discovered that some of the facilities are illegally putting charges on their clients.
The facilities include Tamale West Hospital, One Heart Health Centre, Global Medical Laboratory, Tamale Central Hospital, SDA Hospital, and Kabsad Hospital. These facilities were caught in the act of stealing money from active NHIS subscribers who patronized the services of the facilities.
In October 31, this year, the Tamale Metropolitan Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) manager Mr. Ahmed Abdul-Ganiyu, exposed these facilities for charging patients under NHIS illegal fees.
This was made known at a stakeholder’s engagement over the growing trend of out-of-pocket payments demanded from members of the scheme.
Addressing the media after assisting the disbursement of the money, Mr Abdul Ganiyu reiterated their commitment towards ensuring monies taken illegally from NHIS subscribers will be refunded to them..
Speaking to diamondfmonline.com after taking their money, some of the patients expressed their gratitude to the management of NHIS for coming to their rescue. “We used to doubt the impact of the NHIS card because of the behavior of the hospital staff, but now we are enlightened. We will know how to challenge them whenever we visit the hospital”, some of the victims shared.
Story By: Alhassan Yakubu |www.diamondfmonline.com |Ghana
