Five million subscribers have so far been registered under the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) biometric registration system.

 

The number represents subscribers registered in the Upper East, Upper West, Ashanti, Volta, Greater Accra, Eastern and the Central regions.

 

The biometric system is expected to address the challenges associated with the duplication of subscribers under the manual system and also enable the authority to authenticate subscribers at health providers sites to eliminate multiple claims submission.

 

The Brong Ahafo Region will be the eighth region where the biometric registration will be rolled out. It will begin from Friday, May 22.

 

At a sensitisation meeting with the media in Sunyani, the NHIA Director of Management Information System, Mr Perry Nelson, explained that the biometric cards were being produced and issued instantly at the point of registration.

 

The biometric cards, which will be valid for five years subject to yearly membership renewals, according to Mr Nelson, contained the basic demographic information and the biometric data of subscribers.

 

Mr Nelson said within the next two months, facilities would be put in place in all districts in the region to enable new subscribers and those renewing their cards to do so through the biometric system.

 

He therefore appealed to subscribers whose cards had not expired not to rush but wait until about one month to the expiration of their cards before taking part in the biometric registration exercise.

 

The director further indicated that the old cards would be used together with the biometric ones until they were gradually phased out, explaining that: “Whenever a subscriber goes to renew his/her membership, the old card will be taken and a new biometric one issued to him/her instantly.”

 

Answering questions from the media about the scheme, Mr Nelson refuted media reports that the NHIS was collapsing.

 

He stated that while there were challenges, especially with the payment of claims by the health providers, the system was still operating and challenged the media to visit the nearest health facilities to verify for themselves.

 

 

 

Source: Daily Graphic