Minority demands apology from Minister of Finance over uncapped NHIS funding

The New Patriotic Party Minority Caucus in Parliament is demanding an apology from Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, accusing the government of reneging on its promise to uncap funding for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Dr Ayew Afriyie, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Effiduase Asokore, addressing the Parliamentary Press Corps in Parliament on Tuesday, stated that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) failed to deliver on its campaign pledge to remove the cap on NHIS funding. He argued that the previous administration’s restrictions negatively impacted the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

Dr Afriyie criticised the Minister’s recent statement at the National Economic Dialogue, where he cited financial shortfalls and resource mismanagement within the NHIA as reasons for maintaining the cap.

“This is merely an excuse to justify the government’s inability to uphold its commitment.

“They campaigned on the promise that all revenues would be made available to the NHIA. Now, in office, the Finance Minister finds it difficult to uncap the funds, so he claims there is misuse and a shortfall. That is not true,” Dr Afriyie said.

According to him, the Minority expects the upcoming budget to allocate the full amount received in the health fund to the NHIA, emphasising that any deviation would be unacceptable.

He said: “NHIS funds are statutory allocations approved by Parliament, making allegations of misuse unfounded. We have approved NHIS budgets in this Parliament for years without raising concerns about misuse. Why is it now an issue simply because he is the Finance Minister? He should admit that they cannot uncap the funds and apologise to Ghanaians,” he added.

Source: GNA

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