Findings from University of Cape Coast Broadens Understanding of Health Insurance (Barriers and motivations for health insurance subscription in Cape…

Findings from University of Cape Coast Broadens Understanding of Health Insurance (Barriers and motivations for health insurance subscription in Cape Coast, Ghana: a qualitative study)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- Current study results on Health Insurance have been published. According to news originating from Cape Coast, Ghana, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, "One of the main objectives of the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme, at its establishment in 2003, was to ease financial burden of the full cost recovery policy, particularly on the poor. However, currently, majority of the scheme's subscribers are individuals in the upper wealth quintile, as the poor in society rather have not subscribed."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Cape Coast, "We explored the motivational factors as well as the barriers to health insurance subscription in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana. This study collected qualitative data from 30 purposively selected subscribers and non-subscribers to the National Health Insurance Scheme using an in-depth interview guide. Major motivational factors identified were; affordable health insurance premium, access to free drugs, and social security against unforeseen health challenges. Encouragement by friends, family members, and colleagues, was also found to motivate subscription to the health insurance. The major barriers to health insurance subscription included; long queues and waiting time, perceived poor quality of drugs, and negative attitude of service providers both at the healthcare facilities and the health insurance office. The study underscores the need for the National Health Insurance Authority to conduct intensive education to change the negative perception people have regarding the quality of health insurance drugs. Efforts should also be made to reduce the waiting time in accessing healthcare with the National Health Insurance Scheme card. This would motivate more people to subscribe or renew their membership. The implication of barriers found is that people may not subscribe to the scheme in subsequent years."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "This would, therefore, consequently defeat the objective of achieving universal healthcare coverage with the scheme."

For more information on this research see: Barriers and motivations for health insurance subscription in Cape Coast, Ghana: a qualitative study. Archives of Public Health, 2017;75():24. (BioMed Central - www.biomedcentral.com/; Archives of Public Health - www.archpublichealth.com)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from A. Kumi-Kyereme, Dept. of Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana. Additional authors for this research include H. Amu and E.KM Darteh (see also Health Insurance).

Keywords for this news article include: Ghana, Africa, Cape Coast, Health Insurance, Insurance Companies.

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