The Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has raised critical concerns about the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), citing financial shortfalls and the misuse of resources as major challenges hindering its efficiency.

Speaking at the opening session of the National Economic Dialogue on Monday, March 3, he emphasised that the problems with the NHIS are not only financial but also related to the diversion of resources, which further exacerbates the scheme’s difficulties.

“The National Health Insurance Scheme faces financial shortfalls, and also misuse of resources,” Dr Forson said.

He added “So the problem with the National Health Insurance is not only with the financial shortfalls, but also with misuse of resources”.

According to Dr Forson, one of the primary financial challenges the NHIS faces is that it no longer receives its full allocation from the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) as required by law.

This reduction in funding is due to the Capping Act, which limits the amount of revenue directed to the NHIS, thereby creating a financial strain on the scheme.

In addition to the financial limitations, Dr Forson also pointed out that resources intended for critical healthcare services are increasingly being diverted toward non-core activities, which undermines the scheme’s overall efficiency.

“Resources are being diverted towards non-core activities, and this hinders the effectiveness of the NHIS,” he noted.

Dr Forson referenced data showing that less than 60% of the NHIS budget is currently being allocated to claim payments.

“Today, less than 60% of the National Health Insurance budget goes to non-cleared payment. And you could see that in the year 2008 from the graph, we used to use 86% of the National Health Insurance budget for the purposes of claim payment. This has reduced to about 58%. In fact, in the year 2022 it went down to about 50%,” Dr Forson highlighted.