The Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) says the one-time-off premium payment for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is possible and achievable "if the government is willing to chart this path." "The people of Ghana clearly demonstrated where they wanted to invest their taxes in the 2008 election when they voted for the one-time-off premium and the government must respect this mandate," it added. This was the view expressed by the centre in a press statement signed by Leonard Shang-Quartey, the Convener of Essential Services Platform of ISODEC. The statement said "actuarial studies is only important to the extent that it helps to ascertain how much it will cost to implement the one-off premium payment policy, but should not be used as a basis for determining premiums as that will detract from the social protection intentions informing the policy." The statement added, "perhaps one possible way of financing the one-time-off premium payment will be to cut-out or reduce some of these privileges and entitlement of the elite from the state." It said the claim that the one-time-off premium payment was not feasible without any accompanying suggestion of how access to health care by the poor could be addressed was most unfortunate. The statement added that the government must feel obligated as its social responsibility to address the health concerns of the teeming number of the poor and vulnerable. "The situation where the poor are sent back-home with their illness through barriers created by the annual premium payment is not excusable," the statement said. The statement added that the government must move to ensure optimal and efficient utilisation of current resources made available to the scheme. Significantly, the statement said the government could also explore a way of ensuring a collective benefit of the expected oil revenues through the provision of special levies on oil resources for health financing. The statement said it was important to explain that though the NHIS is defined as an insurance system, in practice, "this is not the case, as about 70 per cent of the scheme is tax financed, 24 per cent being social security contributions from formal sector workers and only five per cent received by way of proceeds from the mutual health insurance schemes." "The view that expanding the vase of the NHIS will require more resources is valid, that which is not valid is that nothing could be done about it to ensure unfettered access to health care services," the statement said. Source: Ghanaian Times