Parliament supports NHIA’s move to purchase 6.3m Ghana Cards for children aged 6 to 14

The Health Committee of Parliament has welcomed the National Health Insurance Authority’s (NHIA) decision to procure some 6.3 million Ghana Cards for children aged six to 14.

According to the authority, using Ghana Cards instead of NHIS Cards is a cost-saving mechanism in the long term, as the details of these users would already be captured in the NIA database.

The acting chief executive of NHIA, Dr. DaCosta Aboagye, disclosed this in a social media post on Friday, March 29.

“The NHIA’s database currently has approximately 6.3 million users aged between six and fourteen years without Ghana cards.

“It is therefore prudent to opt for Ghana Cards instead of NHIS cards for cost-saving purposes, especially considering that the Ghana Card is priced at around $6 (about GHS 81 cedis), which is close to the cost of NHIS cards,” said Dr. Aboagye.

“Moreover, NHIS cards have a validity period of 5 years, whereas Ghana cards last for 10 years, providing an extended duration of usage. This presents significant benefits for our healthcare delivery and services.”

The authority also expressed gratitude to Parliament for supporting its decision and thus approving funds for its execution.

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NHIA will save cost by procuring GHANA Cards instead of NHIS Membership cards for children aged 6 to 14 years.

We express gratitude to the Health Committee of Parliament and the entire House for supporting NHIA’s decision to procure Ghana cards rather than NHIS membership cards for children aged 6 to 14 years.

This decision offers significant potential cost savings in the medium to long term, along with various other benefits.

The NHIA intends to buy six million (6 million) Ghana Cards for children aged six to fourteen years, with Parliament approving Three Million Ghana Cedis (GH3 million) initially pending a mid-year review and progress of work.

This decision is driven by the potential cost of producing NHIS cards, estimated between $4 to $6 (GHS 54 to 81 cedis).
Given the integration of NHIS data with the National Identification Authority (NIA) and the drive for digitalization in Ghana, the Ghana Card is the preferred choice.

The NHIA’s database currently has approximately 6.3 million users aged between six and fourteen years without Ghana cards. It is therefore prudent to opt for Ghana Cards instead of NHIS cards for cost-saving purposes, especially considering that the Ghana Card is priced at around $6 (about GHS 81 cedis), which is close to the cost of NHIS cards.

Moreover, NHIS cards have a validity period of 5 years, whereas Ghana Cards last for 10 years, providing an extended duration of usage. This presents significant benefits for our healthcare delivery and services.

Mandate

Regarding the procurement of Ghana cards for children, it’s important to clarify that while NHIA is mandated to provide NHIS Cards for children, the Authority has chosen to enroll children on Ghana Cards instead of procuring NHIS cards.

A few days ago, I updated the Health Committee and parliment that children in this age group (i.e. 6-14 years) currently do not possess Ghana Cards.

Therefore, printing Ghana Cards for them instead of NHIS Cards will result in long-term cost savings on data integration with the NIA and extend the validity of their NHIS cards from five to ten years.