Residents of Bongo in the Upper East Region were sensitised to the importance of an online self-enrollment platform known as MyNHIS Application.
The App has features that allow persons to either renew their existing National Health Insurance Scheme cards or register for new cards in the comfort of their homes instead of the traditional norm of joining long queues at NHIA offices for those services.
The Bongo District Manager of the National Health Insurance Authority, Mahamadu Seidu Akugri said aside from the benefits mentioned above, the online platform allows the public to renew and register for third parties, and access information about the scheme’s services.
“Over the years, we have been having complaints about the fact that the *929# only allows them to renew, what if they want to register and they don’t have the opportunity to visit the offices to register. So, the NHIA board and management have listened and that is why they came out with this app that allows members to register and renew in the comfort of their homes”, he stated.
Mr. Akugri said the digital platform operates on android and apple smart devices but with the help of the Ghana Card.
The manager said this during a street walk to sensitise the people of Bongo on the importance of the MyNHIS App.
According to him, the introduction of the mobile shortcode a year ago has reduced the long queues his office was recording because many beneficiaries are now renewing their cards using mobile phones.
“More than 70 percent of our members since last year have been renewing their membership using the *929#. And I want to believe that with the addition of this App, people will have the best experience of the NHIS services”, he added.
The street walk was part of activities to mark the NHIS Month celebration which seeks to educate the public on the new user-friendly features that were introduced to enhance the experience of members.
He said the NHIA had revised its policy that allowed Ghanaians, and persons aged 70 and above to get health services using the NHIS card without hindrances as part of the month activity.
“The idea behind the month celebration which used to be a week celebration is that we want to give everybody the opportunity to make sure that their membership is active before we roll unto the year 2023. This is a one-month-long opportunity for members to register if they have not yet registered and also to renew their membership if it has expired. The opportunity is that immediately they do that, they are activated instantly. The norm is that when you register, you will wait for a month, and if your card expires for more than 3 months and you renew, you will wait for a month. But for this month, irrespective of whether your card has expired or you are registering for the first time, you become active instantly”
The Bongo district recorded a total number of 258 persons, 70 years and above who benefited from the waiver from December 1st to 28th while the entire period of December recorded an increasing number of 1084 beneficiaries registering as against the 792 figure recorded in November.
A resident of Bongo, Memunatu Adams welcomed the introduction of the online platform saying “it is always difficult joining long queues to register or renew but with this innovation, we can spend the time travelling to the NHIA offices for other important activities”
Samuel Awine from Anafobisi who was at the Bongo NHIA office to renew his expired card thanked the authority for introducing the platform which he believes “would lessen the financial burden of families, especially when transporting a sick family member to the NHIA office for registration before seeking health care. But now, we can register, and renew our cards and that of our family members at ease”
Among the participants for the walk included the association of weavers, hairdressers, and the youth of Bongo.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Bongo|Ghana
