Bono Regional Director of NHIS, Joseph Mensah, says although somewhat affected by Covid-19, its membership registration and card renewal is on the increase.

With the use of innovative technology i.e. the implementation of a mobile phone renewal platform, Mr Mensah said that this has significantly eased the registration and card renewal process, as prospective members can register for the Scheme in the comfort of their homes and offices.

This, he says, is affirmed by a decrease in the number of member-visits recorded in their office on a daily basis.

“If you look at the registration, a significant percentage is covered by the mobile renewal. So the effect of Covid in on our registration but its impact is not too significant to say it has collapsed the system.

"We are still making serious progress into the registration because we educate the people and they are doing the renewals back in their homes and the figures keep on increasing in terms of membership,” he noted.

As part of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Week Celebration, staff of the Bono Regional Office embarked on a float through the principal streets of the capital, Sunyani, on Tuesday to educate the populace on the importance of the Scheme.

Mr. Mensah informs Joy News that quite a number of people do not renew their membership because of the one-month waiting period required for cardholders for reactivation.

Accordingly, as part of the celebration, persons who renew expired cards within the week will automatically begin to enjoy the services of the Health Insurance Scheme.

He also noted that linking of the NHIS card with the Ghana Card (National Identification Card) will facilitate the use of the Health Insurance for its members.

“In terms of keeping so many cards, you can just link both cards so that when moving along, you may have only the Ghana Card on you to access the healthcare as you’ve been using the Health Insurance card to access,”.