The allocation covered the expenses for dialysis services provided at six health facilities for the months of July and August, and included an advance payment for September.

The six health facilities are Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), Efia Nkwanta Regional Hospital (ENRH), Ho Teaching Hospital (HTH), Tamale Teaching Hospital(TTH), and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).

This is contained in a press release from the Authority signed by Dr Da-Costa Aboagye, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the NHIA and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

According to the statement, with the latest disbursement, the total amount allocated to the free dialysis programme since its inception in June now stood at GH¢1,588,565.00.

“The latest payment of GH¢1,001,329.00 ensures that the health facilities are adequately funded for the dialysis services rendered during July and August. Additionally, this amount includes an advance payment to cover services expected in September,” the statement added.

It noted that, the hospitals would manage the funds and ensure that all patients who may have paid out-of-pocket during the month of July and August would be fully reimbursed according to the approved amount for the various categories.

It added that since the inception of the programme in June, the NHIA’s financial support had significantly enhanced the accessibility of dialysis services for patients, as well as reduced the financial strain on them and ensured continuity of care.

According to the statement, the categories of patients who received the corresponding support were those aged 18 and below and 60 years and above, who received all eight free dialysis sessions per month under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) from June.

Also, persons aged 19 to 59 years seeking treatment at KATH, CCTH, ENRH, HTH, and TTH except KBTH, would receive two dialysis sessions per month, whereas, those receiving treatment at KBTH would receive a subsidy for two dialysis sessions per month, meaning the NHIA would cover 50 per cent of the cost of the two sessions.

The NHIA in a recent publication announced the introduction of Free Dialysis Coverage for some vulnerable patient categories.

The arrangement was approved by Parliament within the NHIA’s Allocation Formula for 2024 and was initiated in June.

Under this arrangement, selected healthcare providers were to receive payment for treating dialysis patients up to the tune of GHS 4.4 Million, made up of GHS2 Million from the Allocation Formula and GHS 2.4 Million from the NHIA’s Corporate Social Responsibility Budget for this fiscal year.

Source: GNA

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Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, May 15, Dr Da-Costa noted that the support would be implemented for the next six months.

This initiative follows the approval of GH₵2 million by Parliament to assist patients requiring dialysis in various parts of the country.

According to statistics, nearly 1,300 Ghanaians are on dialysis, and a renal patient requires about 12 sessions of dialysis a month. With the cost of GH₵380 per dialysis increased to GHS491, a patient will need nearly GHS6,000 a month for the full session.

According to the NHIA CEO, the funds allocation was decided by a committee consisting of major stakeholders including the CEOs and medical directors of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, and the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.

He indicated that it was chaired by the Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr Nsiah Asare, with the spokesperson for dialysis patients and himself as members.

“Based on the money that we had, we knew that we could support two sessions at full cost. For Korle Bu, there is a philanthropy that supports each patient with GH₵380 so we will add the remaining balance so that they don’t pay anything for the two sessions.

“However, the patients at other facilities don’t get any support at all, and to be fair, we decided to support them fully for two sessions as well,” he explained the modality of implementation.

He further noted the final step before rolling out the support involves developing the necessary mechanisms.

“All I need now is to develop the BRG code so that when the patients go to the hospitals or facilities they can access this support. The money is available, it is left with the mechanism so by June 1 we should roll this out,” he confirmed.

When asked about the sustainability of the support, Dr Da-Costa was hopeful that by the end of the sixth month, the government would have allocated more funds to the initiative.

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