Prosecution of NHIS fraudsters begins this year – Agyeman-Manu

Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu says the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) will commence legal action against persons who make fraudulent claims, within the year.

Mr Agyeman-Manu believes such conduct is troubling and could derail the scheme hence the decision to seek approval from the Attorney General to prosecute offenders.

“We are waiting for the Attorney General’s Office to give us the green light to enable the health insurance to [do] prosecution itself,” Mr Agyeman-Manu said on Joy TV’s PM Express on Wednesday.

Because of that, the NHIA, meant to provide access to universal healthcare to Ghanaians, will assemble lawyers for that purpose and the Minister is “anticipating that in the course of this year we may probably see one or two prosecutions”.

Some officials of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) have been under investigation by the internal audit division for various acts of corruption and misappropriation of funds.

Other entities and individuals also make false claims and cheat the NHIA resulting in significant amounts of payments for healthcare which has not been provided.

The Minister is hopeful that the AG will provide them with the necessary backing to institute tougher sanctions and curb the trend which poses as a major challenge to healthcare delivery in the country.