The Ashanti Regional Manager of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Mr Afrifa Yamoah-Ponkoh, has pledged the government's resolve to streamline the operations of the scheme to make it sustainable. The scheme represented hope, especially for the poor and vulnerable in society, and everything would be done to inject efficiency into the way it was managed, he said. Mr Yamoah-Ponkoh told a meeting with service providers in the Kwabre District at Mamponteng that adequate measures were already in place to stop corrupt practices and punish offenders. There are a total of 145 scheme centres throughout the country with 24 in Ashanti. He assured the service providers that his office was working hard to clear all unpaid claims owed them. He urged them to continue with their services as reliable partners to bring quality health care to the people. Mr Yamoah-Ponkoh said he was satisfied with the performance of the Kwabre Mutual Health Insurance Scheme, ranking it among the best managed in the region. The Claims Manager, Mr Ike Kurankye, said about 83 per cent of claims by service providers had been settled. He said they had launched a massive public education to get all the people in the area to register with the scheme. Source: GNA