Health Financing in Ghana PDF Download

Author: George Schieber
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 082139567X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This volume analyzes Ghana s National Health Insurance Scheme and highlights the range of policy options needed to assure its financially sustainable transition to universal coverage.

Author: George Schieber
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821395661
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 197

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Book Description
Ghana is one of only several African countries to enact legislation and earmark financing for universal health insurance coverage for its entire population. Seven years into its implementation the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has made significant progress in transitioning to universal coverage, but faces significant fiscal and coverage challenges. This study reviews Ghana's health financing system with a special emphasis on its National Health Insurance Scheme. Such an assessment is important because Ghana is often considered a global 'good practice' in terms of earmarking significant amounts of its general revenues for health insurance coverage, providing formal coverage to its vulnerable population groups, and extending coverage by transitioning its existing community health insurance schemes into a national health insurance program. In addition to the global interest in the Ghana 'model', this review is timely in view of recent critiques of the system and questions about its financial sustainability. The study is also unique in terms of evaluating Ghana's NHIS in terms of basic health system goals of health outcomes, financial protection, consumer satisfaction, equity, efficiency, and financial sustainability. The strengths and weaknesses of Ghana's health financing system are assessed on the basis of these performance goals to provide the current health policy reform baseline. The assessment is also based on several new and updated sources of information on: total health spending, inputs, outcomes, household spending, and the macro economy. It also undertakes for the first time an extensive international benchmarking analysis; assesses the financial protection/equity of the system at both macro and micro levels; and, contains an extensive fiscal space analysis based on Ghana's new macroeconomic realities (i.e., the revaluation of Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) upward by some 60 percent in November 2010, making Ghana a lower middle income country). The study concludes with an assessment of potential structural and operational reform options to assure NHISs long-term efficacy and sustainability in the context of its future available fiscal space.

Author: Huihui Wang
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464811180
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was established in 2003 as a major vehicle to achieve the country’s commitment of Universal Health Coverage. The government has earmarked value-added tax to finance NHIS in addition to deduction from Social Security Trust (SSNIT) and premium payment. However, the scheme has been running under deficit since 2009 due to expansion of coverage, increase in service use, and surge in expenditure. Consequently, Ghana National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) had to reduce investment fund, borrow loans and delay claims reimbursement to providers in order to fill the gap. This study aimed to provide policy recommendations on how to improve efficiency and financial sustainability of NHIS based on health sector expenditure and NHIS claims expenditure review. The analysis started with an overall health sector expenditure review, zoomed into NHIS claims expenditure in Volta region as a miniature for the scheme, and followed by identifictation of factors affecting level and efficiency of expenditure. This study is the first attempt to undertake systematic in-depth analysis of NHIS claims expenditure. Based on the study findings, it is recommended that NHIS establish a stronger expenditure control system in place for long-term sustainability. The majority of NHIS claims expenditure is for outpatient consultations, district hospitals and above, certain member groups (e.g., informal group, members with more than five visits in a year). These distribution patterns are closely related to NHIS design features that encourages expenditure surge. For example, year-round open registration boosted adverse selection during enrollment, essentially fee-for-service provider mechanisms incentivized oversupply but not better quality and cost-effectiveness, and zero patient cost-sharing by patients reduced prudence in seeking care and caused overuse. Moreover, NHIA is not equipped to control expenditure or monitor effect of cost-containment policies. The claims processing system is mostly manual and does not collect information on service delivery and results. No mechanisms exist to monitor and correct providers’ abonormal behaviors, as well as engage NHIS members for and engaging members for information verification, case management and prevention.

Author: Alexander S. Preker
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821355252
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
One of the most urgent development challenges facing many low and middle income countries is the need for adequate financing systems to pay for health care provision to the estimated 1.3 billion impoverished people living in rural areas or working in the informal sector in urban areas. This publication considers ways of improving the financing of health care at low income levels, as part of a global strategy for increased investment in health and poverty reduction. Topics discussed include: global and regional trends in healthcare financing; strengths and weaknesses of community-based health financing, and experiences in Asia and Africa; country case studies using household survey analysis from Senegal, Rwanda, India and Thailand; deficit financing; and the impact of risk sharing on achieving health system goals.

Author: Bernard F Couttolenc
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821395904
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Ghana's government has embarked on a decentralization process since the 1980s, but the intended devolution of the health system faces important challenges and shortfalls. This study analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the decentralization of the Ghanaian health system.

Author: Francis Mensah Asenso-Boadi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This study seeks to improve the knowledge of health care financing issues in Ghana as the country seeks a sustainable means of financing health care. To this end an empirical study of Ghanaians' willingness to pay for health services and for health insurance is undertaken thereby applying the contingent valuation model of estimating willingness to pay in a different context (health care financing and demand) from the usual applications reported in the literature, which value the benefit component of cost-benefit analysis. Firstly, the study examines the three main methods of raising funds to finance health care (namely, government through taxes, user payments at the point of use, and health insurance) and discusses their advantages and disadvantages. Ghana's experiences in health care financing are considered with particular reference to the introduction of user charges by the government in 1992 and the issues raised concerning revenue generation, health service utilisation and equity, especially those affecting people with lower income levels. The empirical study was undertaken in two district capitals and their immediate environs in the Eastern region of Ghana with a sample of 487 heads of household interviewed in their own homes. The study shows that, overall, Ghanaians are willing to pay for their health care whether delivered by government or private hospitals and they are also willing to contribute into a national health insurance scheme. However, one's willingness to pay does not necessarily mean one will be able to pay for one's health care, since this depends on ability to pay. Since Ghana's per capita income is US$390 and the daily minimum wage is less than US$1, many Ghanaians may find it difficult to pay for their health care at the time of use given the uncertain nature of health care needs. Consequently, this study proposes the establishment of a national/social health insurance scheme, which if properly implemented, could be of immense benefit in raising adequate funds to improve upon health care delivery in the country.

Author: Ricardo A. Bitran
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821387472
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
Private Health Sector Assessment in Ghana is part of the World Bank Working Paper series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank?s ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion. The private health sector in Ghana is a large and important sector in the market for health-related goods and services. However, little has been documented concerning the size and configuration of private providers and their contribution to health sector outcomes. With better information about the size, scope, distribution, and constraints of private actors, Ghana?s public policy makers

Author: Karima Saleh
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821396005
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
This volume analyzes Ghana s health system performance and highlights the range of policy options needed to improve health system performance and health outcomes.

Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264233385
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
The health systems we enjoy today, and expected medical advances in the future, will be difficult to finance from public resources without major reforms. Public health spending in OECD countries has grown rapidly over most of the last half century. These spending increases have contributed to ...

Author: Karima Saleh
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821395998
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
"... briefly discusses some of the debates in Ghana's health sector: decentralization and governance, private sector partnership, strengthening health systems, and health financing. It brings together several elements of health system development and challenges and links it to health financing and delivery performance. The volume reviews the situation among human resources for health and pharmaceuticals. The private sector is growing and attention is required on its development. The volume benefits from health service delivery assessments in the public and private sectors, and finds large variations in distribution and weak incentives to improve productivity and performance. It also reviews the demand side financing reform, its coverage of the population and its effect on service use and the financial sustainability of the National Health Insurance Scheme ..."--Publisher's website.