Tax tobacco and alcohol products a bit more - NHIA spokesperson pleads to government
- The Authority is looking to raise revenue from products that cause common diseases
- The spokesperson also hinted that they want government to increase the health insurance levy
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has pleaded with the government to impose stiffer taxes on the production and importation of alcohol and tobacco in Ghana.
Spokesperson for the Authority, Barima Sarpong made this known in an interview with an Accra-based radio station initially monitored by Mynewsgh.
According to Mr Sarpong, the proposal includes a suggestion to government to increase the health insurance levy from 2.5% to 3.5%. This, he believes would help the poor financial state of the programme.
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Furthermore, the NHIA wants the government to tax the savings on pensions by 1% in order to add to the Authority's revenue.
The National Health Insurance Scheme has suffered various setbacks since its inception some 11 years ago. Recent challenges with the scheme have to do with allegations of embezzlement on lack of funds.
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The proposal on the imposition of taxes on alcohol and tobacco products is supposed to dissuade people from consuming harmful substances to their health.
It remains to be seen if whether the re-capitalisation needed by the NHIA would be supported by the government in Thursday's mid-year budget.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
