Minister of Health Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has revealed that President John Dramani Mahama has instructed that the government’s dialysis subsidy be expanded to include private health facilities.
The announcement was made during the inauguration of a 13-member governing board for the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, also known as “MahamaCares,” a key initiative aimed at providing financial assistance for the treatment of chronic non-communicable diseases.
Under the new directive, the government will absorb GH₵500 of the cost per dialysis session at private health centres.
“The current arrangement for payment of dialysis is that if you go to public health facilities, we have a maximum amount of money we pay per session—that’s around 499, something about 500 Ghana cedis. What we have realised is that there are people who also go to private facilities, and so, it’s a necessity; the President has directed us to give what is paid to the public facilities,” he explained.
“So, for example, if you go to private facility A and they are charging you 1,000 Ghana cedis, the government will pay the 500 Ghana cedis, and you top up, to be fair to everybody. So, the CEO for the National Health Insurance has been directed accordingly to take up that challenge,” he added.
Mr. Akandoh further urged corporate institutions and individuals to support the government by contributing to the fund.
“And finally, to also add my voice to the appeal the chairman made to corporate Ghana. We cannot do it all alone. It is the partnership between the government and corporate Ghana that will take us far. There are other corporate bodies who have come on board, like Telecel Group of Companies, and there are some banks as well,” he said.
Source: Adomonline
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