ASOKWA MUTUAL INSURANCE DENIES ALLEGATIONS (PAGE 43)

The management of the Asokwa Mutual Health Insurance Scheme in Kumasi has given the assurance that the scheme is very active in its operations.
It is also still offering the opportunity to residents yet to join to do so for them to access quality medical care services at affordable cost.
The Manager of the scheme, Mr Isaac Asare, told the Daily Graphic that rumours were rife in the metropolis that the scheme had been inactive since the beginning of the year, and that its clients were being denied medical care at the various healthcare centres in Kumasi.
Mr Asare was speaking on the challenges confronting the scheme.
Denouncing the rumours as a calculated attempt to discourage a section of the public from joining the scheme, Mr Asare said, “ The scheme is ongoing, and registered members can testify that they have not been denied medical care at any of the healthcare facilities which do business with us in the Kumasi metropolis.
We have been doing brisk business in Kumasi since the beginning of the year, so I invite those who are yet to join to do so before they fall sick”.
He said the minimum premium for the ordinary Ghanaian had also not been increased, and remains at GH¢7.20 per year, while those who are well to do in society pay GH¢48.00 per year”.
Mr Asare encouraged anyone who claims to have been denied medical care at any of the health facilities in the metropolis and its environs “to immediately report to his office for investigations to be conducted into the allegation and appropriate action taken.
He denied rumours circulating to the effect that the health insurance scheme was broke because it owed the service providers huge sums of money.
Admitting that they owe the health providers, Mr Asare said the scheme would continue to owe the them because at any point in time, they would continue to provide quality healthcare services to members of the scheme before submitting bills for settlement.
“The scheme is eager to honour the bills as soon as they are submitted, but they are always submitted late. As I am speaking, most of the service providers in Kumasi are yet to submit their December bills, so how can we pay bills that are yet to be submitted?”
Mr Asare also explained that some of the medical bills submitted were full of inaccuracies and all such bills needed to be scrutinised and vetted in order to do away with spurious claims before payments was made.
This is because issues relating to money should not be taken for granted, and without that the scheme would collapse.
On the provision of Identity cards to clients, Mr Asare noted, “ the scheme is not resourced to provide national identity cards as soon as members register. All cards are now printed in Accra after they had collected data from our outfit”.
Explaining, he said the Asokwa Mutual Health Insurance Scheme however provided provisional identity cards to members waiting for their national identity cards to enable them to source for medical care when necessary, and therefore stressed the need for all residents at the sub metro to join the scheme in their own interest.