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NHIA regional reviews: Bono leads coverage as Bawku conflict cuts enrolment

Writer: Ghana Insurance Hub
Ghana Insurance Hub
Mar 1, 2023
2 min read

Regional offices of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) presented their 2022 performance at year-end reviews reported during March 2023. Figures released for the Bono, Upper East and Bono East regions showed mixed results on revenue and enrolment, and all three offices pointed to illegal co-payments as a continuing problem.


In Sunyani, Bono Regional Director Joseph Mensah said the region mobilised GH¢7,386,686.96 in 2022, 72 per cent of its GH¢10,220,919.70 target, and that 60 per cent of district offices beat their targets. Population coverage reached 80.8 per cent, placing Bono top of the NHIA's universal health coverage league table. Mensah called illegal co-payment, in which members are charged for services the scheme covers, the region's biggest challenge, and linked it to rising service charges and medicine prices. He urged residents to use the MyNHIS app, which he said was "far better than queuing at the offices of the NHIS".


In Bolgatanga, acting Upper East Regional Director Kasimu Abudulai said the prolonged conflict in Bawku caused a 47 per cent membership shortfall in 2022. The region as a whole reached 94.6 per cent of its membership target of 988,442, and population coverage stood at 70.45 per cent against a national figure of 54.5 per cent. The NHIA enrolled 94,186 indigent people against a target of 119,270. The report did not make clear whether the 47 per cent shortfall applied to Bawku alone.


In Techiman, Bono East Regional Director George Oppong-Danquah said the region ranked first nationally in revenue mobilisation, collecting GH¢5,984,733.84, or 80 per cent of a GH¢7,498,833.46 target. Membership reached 877,097 against a target of 853,926, which he said placed the region second nationwide. Other Bono East figures:


  • Mobile registration and renewal: 379,957 against a target of 384,268 (98.9 per cent).

  • Techiman Municipal Mutual Health Insurance Scheme revenue: GH¢1,992,443.10 against GH¢1,978,860.00 (101 per cent).


Why it matters


All three offices reported co-payment as a live issue, despite committees set up at national, regional and district levels to deal with it. The Bono office said co-payments at some facilities had led clients to lose interest in the scheme, which bears directly on renewals. Bono also listed linking NHIA and National Identification Authority cards as a 2023 priority.


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