Persons suffering from kidney diseases, aged below 18 and those above 60 years will receive all eight dialysis sessions per month for free under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) effective June 1, 2024 to December 2024, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has announced.
The move, according to a statement signed by the Ag. Chief Executive Officer, NHIA, Dr Da-Costa Aboagye, and copied by the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday, formed part of its 20th anniversary celebration.
It said the source of funding for the intervention was the Government of Ghana approved by Parliament at an amount of GH¢2,000,000.00 in the NHIAs 2024 Allocation Formula in order to support needy and vulnerable patients seeking dialysis treatment.
"As part of NHIA's 20th Anniversary, the NHIA, through administrative arrangements has allocated an additional GH¢2,400,000.00, under the Corporate Social Responsibility approved budget of the scheme to support this initiative," the statement added.
It said the cost of dialysis for patients under the categories, upon verification of the actual patients on the dialysis is projected to be GH¢329,952 per month and by the end of December 2024, the cumulative cost could be approximately GH¢2.3 million.
However, the statement further said patients aged 18 to 59 years from Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Efia Nkwanta Regional Hospital, Ho Teaching Hospital and Tamale Teaching Hospital except Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) would also receive some form of subsidy for two dialysis sessions per month at GH¢982.00, which translate GH¢491 per session.
"The cost of dialysis for this treatment category is projected to be GH¢144,354 per month and by the end of December 2024, the cumulative cost is estimated to be approximately GH¢1.01 million," it added.
It indicated that patients at KBTH would receive a subsidy for two dialysis sessions per month at GH¢245.50 per session, which is 50 per cent of the cost per session at GH¢491.00 due to a philanthropic gesture of GH¢380.00 being offered to such patients to address equity across all facilities.
The cost of dialysis for this treatment category at KBTH, the statement said, was projected to be GH¢147,300 per month and by the end of December 2024, the cumulative cost is estimated to be approximately GH¢1.03 million.
"The Government is committed to finding sustainable interventions to dealing with renal diseases and other illnesses not currently covered under the NHIS in a holistic manner, and will soon unveil a sustainable plan," the statement concluded.
It would be recalled that the Ghanaian Times in its May 3 publication said persons suffering from kidney diseases were to receive some form of subsidy in the treatment of dialysis by the end of this year, according to a statement made by the Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye, during his visit to inspect some key health projects and interventions by the government at the KBTH.
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The minister promised to lead discussions with NHIA and Health Committee in Parliament to ensure that renal patients were put on the NHIS in order to reduce the burden of dialysis treatment.
This followed a complaints by the Renal Patients Association of Ghana about the cost of dialysis and treatment at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) and other public health facilities.
