The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), has served notice that it will take action against health facilities that are charging extra fees from their clients.

The Deputy Director of the Claims Processing Centre (CPC) of Tamale, Isaac Akonde, served this notice during a media interaction on the sidelines of an ongoing Savannah Regional 2020 end-of-year review by the Authority.

There have been reports that some facilities are taking extra charges from NHIA clients in the Savannah Region for treatment of conditions covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Mr. Akonde said those top-up charges are illegal.

He, therefore, called on the public to report health facilities engaged in such activities.

“We get some complaints of illegal payments or what they call top-ups in some facilities, and the NHIA has not sanctioned any top-up, so any provider within the region that is engaged in asking our clients to make top-ups of any form is illegal, and we want to use this medium to caution that the Authority will not hesitate to take action against any provider that is engaged in that.”

Mr. Akonde advised members of the public who are asked to make payments to report to the nearest district office or any of the call centre numbers.

Investigations into cases of extortion
The NHIA, in May, this year, said it is on a manhunt for credentialed service providers who were demanding extra money (out-of-pocket payments) for medical services covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

In collaboration with the law enforcement agencies, the Authority said it was hastening its investigations into widespread cases of extortion to punish the offenders.

The NHIA disclosed this in the wake of complaints by some NHIS subscribers who were livid over the conduct of some service providers at the point of healthcare delivery.