The Ghana Medical Association is warning of the imminent collapse of the National Health Insurance Scheme if adequate steps are not taken to secure the future of the scheme. This was contained in a statement issued by the GMA after an Executive Council meeting in Keta on Monday. Speaking to Joy News’ Araba Koomson to elaborate on the concerns of the GMA, General Secretary Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey admitted that the scheme is the most crucial intervention as far as health care financing is concerned but warned it may soon collapse if urgent steps are not taken to resolve the teething challenges it faces. According to him, while attention has been focused on the coverage of the scheme, the quality of care extended to the patients has not been taken into consideration. He also cited needless delays in payment of outstanding claims to healthcare facilities, which he said have had dire repercussions on the those facilities. “Hospitals have overdrawn their credit facilities and some are no longer in the position to procure drugs,” he lamented. The legislative instrument which legalizes the National Health Insurance Scheme stipulates that claims would have to be paid latest four weeks after those claims have been made, but investigation by the GMA proved that some of the claims had been outstanding for a period of close to nine months. This he said, is a worrying trend to the GMA. The GMA therefore called on President Mills and the Health Minister Benjamin Kumbuor to take urgent steps to ensure efficiency in the operation of the scheme or risk its collapse. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana