Former President John Mahama says the NDC will initiate plans to review and strengthen the National Health Insurance Scheme should the party return to power in 2021.

The NDC flagbearer said that the introduction of the capping and realignment act has reduced funding sources and thus affecting quality health care services

“We are also proposing sources of funding for the [National] Health Insurance [Scheme],” he said.

“The health insurance as it was designed was to cover a period of ten years. We have gone far past that number of years and the subscriber base has increased phenomenally and the funding sources have become insufficient to sustain the health insurance, and so looking at new sources of funding for health insurance will be important.”

The NDC flagbearer made these remarks at a crunch meeting with members and executives of the Ghana Medical Association in Accra.

The former president also assured of his commitment to operationalize and aggressively complete all abandoned health projects across the country to facilitate better health care for all Ghanaians. 

“We talked about operationalizing projects that have been completed but are standing idle like the University of Ghana Medical Centre, the Bank Hospital, the Wa Hospital and several other projects that have been commissioned but are still not operationalised,” he said.

The President of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr. Frank Ankobea, said the meeting with the former president and the NDC team was a “fruitful and encouraging” discussion.

“We probably would have to meet some groups of the NDC and then still go down to some other health policies that they have.”

The GMA President said the meeting was “apolitical” as discussions were centred on the health of the Ghanaian.

This meeting forms part of the NDC and John Mahama’s engagement with stakeholders and key groupings ahead of the 2020 general elections.

According to Mahama, the interactions are aimed at sharing ideas, listening to the concerns and expectations of the various groupings which will have a direct impact on the party’s 2020 manifesto.