The National Health Insurance committee’s instruction to service providers to reduce prices of drugs by 80% has left providers lamenting over the quick and short notice with which the directive was issued.
The Upper East Regional chairman of the Private Healthcare Providers Association Dr. Thomas Moore, says the quick notice comes as shock to them because the Health Insurance committee should have given them at least three months notice to make adjustment.
Dr. Moore is who is not pleased with the instruction is therefore calling for the suspension of the directive while proper consultations are done.
“If you are given instructions to health facilities that the price list they were using has come down or you have reduced the price of the drugs, you don’t wait till the middle of the month. Because you can’t call the patient back to tell him that they have reduce the prices for the patient.
“Anytime they are revising their price list, they give us three months notice. For instance, in 2015 they told us in March 2016, there will be increase in prices of drugs and it took three months to do the adjustment, now you waited till the middle of July then send circulars round and even, they had to bring the letter to their our facilities and it doesn’t work that way. And they have also reduced 80% of the drug list and if they have reduced 80%, it means almost all the cost drugs have been reduced”. He lamented.
He said the NHIS should have consulted the association before concluding on their behalf. Hence calling for the suspension of the reduction of prices of medicines.
Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen|A1rdioonline.com|Ghana
