Samuel Agbewode
1 July 2009
Ho — The Project Coordinator of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Alhaji L. M. Muniru, has revealed that his outfit is conducting investigations into allegations that doctors and nurses have been extorting money from NHIS card holders.
He said complaints of extortion under the NHIS by service providers, was very high in the Volta Region, warning that if it is proven, punitive action would be taken against those involved.
Alhaji Muniru, who was speaking at a stakeholders meeting with the Inter Agency Steering Committee of the NHIS in Ho recently, stressed that doctors and nurses were not above the law, and would be dealt with accordingly, to help bring sanity into the provision of services under the NHIS.
The Health Insurance Coordinator pointed out that efforts were being made to improve on the activities of the scheme, including service provision to clients, and that the authorities would not tolerate any activities that would derail their efforts.
Alhaji Muniru also revealed that everything possible was being done to protect scheme managers who are being threatened with dismissal.
He however warned the latter to stay away from politics, since it was the source of the problems they are facing.
He continued that the NHIS managers were not political heads, but technocrats, yet they refused to abide by their professional ethics, as some of them were seen during the 2008 general elections campaigning for a particular political party using the scheme's vehicles, some of which broke down during the period.
Alhaji Muniru said it was time for technocrats to identify themselves as a category of workers, whose activities were relevant to the development efforts of the country, and emphasised the need for the various technocrats to let the politicians play their political roles.
In a power-point address, delivered on behalf of the Volta Regional Manager of the NHIS, Mr. Raymond Avinu, he announced that the region had 60.32 per cent coverage under the scheme, with the northern parts of the region recording the lowest registration.
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