The Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr Aboagye Da-Costa, has disclosed that his outfit will begin its intended support for dialysis treatment on June 1, 2024.
According to the NHIA CEO, the support would be implemented for the next six months.
This move follows parliament’s approval of GH₵2 million to assist patients requiring dialysis in various parts of the country.
Explaining the modality of implementation, Dr Da-Costa said that the Authority would cover two sessions for each of these patients, who total about 600, from June to the last day of December in the year.
“Based on the money that we had, we knew that we could support two sessions at full cost. For Korle Bu, there is a philanthropy that supports each patient with GH₵380 so we will add the remaining balance so that they don’t pay anything for the two sessions.
“However, the patients at other facilities don’t get any support at all, and to be fair, we decided to support them fully for two sessions as well,” he explained.
He further noted “All I need now is to develop the BRG code so that when the patients go to the hospitals or facilities they can access this support. The money is available, it is left with the mechanism so by June 1 we should roll this out.”
In March, Parliament approved GH¢6.87 billion for the NHIA to cover health insurance claims and other activities for the year.
This allocation also included, for the first time, emergency support for needy dialysis patients.
Dr. Aboagye Da-Costa revealed that a committee has been set up to evaluate the actuarial model of absorbing dialysis on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and provide recommendations.
The committee has already submitted its report, and enhanced funding for dialysis will be made available once the recommendations are implemented.
This move by the government is expected to provide much-needed relief to kidney patients who have been struggling with the rising cost of dialysis treatment.