Abstract:
The health status of a nation goes a long way to determine its level of productivity and
growth. The objective of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is to ensure
equitable universal access for all residents of Ghana to an acceptable quality package
of health services. The objectives of the study was to analyze the challenges involved
in accessing the National Health Insurance Scheme by subscribers in the Central
Tongu District, evaluate the prospects of the National Health Insurance Scheme in the
District and the factors that affect NHIS usage in accessing health care. To achieve
these objectives, a combination of case study and survey research designs were used.
The study employed descriptive statistics and probit regression analysis in presenting
the results obtained on the factors that prevent people from accessing the National
Health Insurance Scheme in the Central Tongu District and the challenges faced in
accessing National Health Insurance Scheme. The findings of the study showed that,
the introduction of NHIS in Central Tongu District has helped improve individuals‟
access to primary health care. That is, irrespective of one‟s education, employment
status, distance and affordability, one can subscribe to NHIS in order to access basic
health care within the district. The study found out that, NHIS subscription has the
tendency of improving the health lives of people and it has also helped reduced the
cash and carry system of obtaining basic health care in the country, precisely, in the
Central Tongu District. Nevertheless, the above independent variables affect
individuals within the Central Tongu District in accessing primary health care.
However, NHIS subscription within the District has helped and brought some relief to
individuals who obtain basic health care in the district at an affordable cost. It is
recommended that, the government of Ghana through the ministry of health should
collaborate with telecommunication companies to extend their services to remote
areas to allow easy access for registration and renewal of the NHIS cards. In addition,
the government of Ghana in collaboration with other health agencies should bring out
policies in order to bring back on track some health workers who do not pay attention
to individuals who comes to the health centers with the NHIS to access basic health
care. This will help them keep the workers on their toes to enhance efficiency. Again,
the ministry of health can collaborate with some private health centers who accept the
NHIS card in accessing basic health care to build more health centers in the Central
Tongu District in order to help individuals who find it difficult to access health care
due to distance problem.
Description:
A dissertation in the Department of Economics Education,
Faculty of Social Sciences Education, submitted to the School
of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirement for the award of the degree of
Master of Science
(Economics Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
2020