Government Considers Including Dialysis To NHIS After Public Uproar Over High Cost Of Treatment
- The government may soon direct that the cost of treatment for dialysis should be included in the NHIS
- The public relations officer of the health ministry has explained that the move is part of intervention by the government after public complaints about the high cost of dialysis treatment
- Isaac Offei Baah said the government was committed to ensuring the sustenance of the decision once it starts
It has emerged that the government through the health ministry is considering including renal dialysis in the treatments covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Reports say public relations officer of the health ministry Isaac Offei Baah has said the government has decided to cover the treatment under the NHIS because of widespread complaints of the high cost of treatment.
“The President directed that we should migrate the dialysis cost to the National Health Insurance bracket. When that happens, it can also be part of the interventions," Joy News quoted him in a report.
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He clarified that the health ministry, which is superintended by Kwaku Agyeman Manu, will issue an explicit directive to public hospitals like the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital among others when a firm decision has been reached.
Baah said the government's main holdback is how to subsidise renal dialysis treatment once it has been migrated onto the NHIS.
Korle Bu Hospital Teaching Hospital recently opened the Renal Unit to outpatients after weeks of shutdown.
In a statement dated November 7, the mega hospital's management said the Renal Unit would provide its regular services.
Korle Bu forced to respond to public furore over increased cost of dialysis
Two months ago, the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital was forced to explain that the price increase for dialysis had not been implemented.
The hospital's CEO said he was unaware of the proposal to increase the cost of dialysis from GH¢380 to GH¢765.42.
Amis to public anger at the cost of treatment, a doctor told YEN.com.gh that the government needed to intervene in the matter.
Apart from the hike in the cost of treatment, some patients disclosed that they were sometimes compelled to pay illegal fees to receive treatment.
Korle Bu blames high taxes for the increase in the cost of dialysis
Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh has reported in a separate story that the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital's public relations team said it was imperative to increase the cost of dialysis treatment because the unit may cease to exist due to operational and other costs.
PRO of the hospital Mustapha Salifu said the government used to subsidise some of the cost of the treatment but not anymore.
He also disclosed that high port charges and other taxes threaten the continuous existence of the dialysis unit.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
