THE ROLE OF NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEME IN THE PROVISION OF THE ACCESSIBILITY HEALTH CARE IN KASSENA NANKANA MUNICIPAL, GHANA

Abstract

The main objective of the study is to examine the role of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in providing appropriate health care to the people of the Kassena Nankana area with the view to policy making recommendations to improve the process. The study used cross sectional research approach and data was collected from a total of 116 respondents using questionnaire. Focus Group Discussions were also held with the use of an interview guide. The sampling techniques were purposive, cluster and snowball .sampling. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and ranking. The study found that people covered long distances to the schemes offices and health post, an average of 10 km; majority of the respondents went to hospital or clinics whenever they fell sick with the frequently reported ailments as malaria and respondents were satisfied with the operations of the NHIS in the area. Respondents had a positive attitude towards the scheme. Before the introduction of the policy, beneficiaries paid an average of GH¢135.00 annually on health care but this has reduced drastically to GH¢7.20 per annum with the introduction of the policy. The study uncovered some challenges confronting the scheme such as: difficulty in people registering, delays in members obtaining ID cards, overcrowding in NHIS offices, difficulty in obtaining folders in the Out-Patient Department by clients, some drugs not being covered by the scheme, difficulty in meeting doctors, long queues in dispensaries, frequent shortage of drugs as well as low quality drugs. The study concludes that the NHIS presents tremendous prospects towards increasing access to health care. The study recommended that the scheme offices and service providers should use all the available resources and techniques to reduce the time it take to do business with them.