Government owes Christian Health Association over GHC200m – NHIS

The National Health Insurance Scheme is currently indebted to the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) hospitals in excess of 200 million cedis.

This is years of accumulated arrears the government has failed to settle service providers under the scheme.

“Over the years several efforts have been made by CHAG to reclaim our money but to no avail,” the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) and the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) lamented in a communiqué.

The communiqué was issued after the two religious bodies’ annual joint meeting which was held at Osu Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Accra on Wednesday May 10, 2017. It was signed by the General Secretary and Chairmen of both institutions.

It called on government to roll out as a matter of urgency a programme to pay all arrears owed the CHAG hospitals to ensure that churches are able to run our hospitals and clinics.

“Our hospitals take loans from banks to run and pay interests. Moreover, CHAG has made a commitment that staff members in our hospitals and clinics do not use strike action as a means of negotiation and we want government to appreciate these efforts we are making and act accordingly.”

Government and Health Ministry were also asked to appreciate and acknowledge the contributions the churches make towards health care delivery in the nation.

The communiqué also talked by the aftermath of the 2016 general elections, galamsey and the free senior high school policy of the government.