SOME Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributors are being compelled by the District Mutual Health Insurance Schemes to pay for premiums before being registered or their cards renewed.
This is because their names are not captured in the master list presented to the NHIS by SSNIT.
SSNIT contributors are exempt from paying the premium, since 2.5 per cent of their contributions is deducted as a premium to the National Health Insurance Scheme.
But the Times has learnt that contributors whose names do not appear on the list are made to pay for the premium by the NHIS before registration.
Data at the NHIS national secretariat has been networked to all the mutual schemes such that on submission of a SSNIT number in any of the districts, the scheme operators have to only key in the number to confirm that the person is a SSNIT contributor and can therefore be registered without paying any premium.
A source at the NHIS said many of the numbers submitted by the contributors drawn blank when keyed into the main computer.
The source said, when the NHIS head office started receiving reports about such cases from across the country, the districts were directed to accept evidence of statement of contributions as proof that the person is a contributor and can therefore be registered.
“However, after registering such individuals, SSNIT refused on numerous occasions to reimburse the NHIS with the payment of the premium, insisting that NHIS must adhere strictly to the names on the data,” the source said.
Because of this, the source said, directive was issued from the various district schemes were instructed to stop the registration of people whose named names could not be found on SSNIT master list.
Mr. Harold Brookman-Amissah, Manager I.T. Systems and Operations of SSNIT described the situation as surprising, explaining that if a contributor’s name is not found on the main data, there are many options to follow other than collecting money from the contributors.
He said now that SSNIT insists that employers should file their workers contributions monthly the records are frequently updated on the centralised computer system and sent to NHIS head office every quarterly.
After the records are made available to the NHIS, copies are sent to all SSNIT branches across the country and contributors who are faced with such challenges can contact any SSNIT branch for rectification.
Mr. Kodwo Osei, SSNIT Database Manager said the district mutual schemes might have adopted this approach in order to compel SSNIT contributors to pay for the registration.
This, he said, would enable the district schemes to maximise their internally-generated income to support their operations.
Mr. Osei suggested that the operations of the schemes be centralized for a better control of their incomes.
This is because their names are not captured in the master list presented to the NHIS by SSNIT.
SSNIT contributors are exempt from paying the premium, since 2.5 per cent of their contributions is deducted as a premium to the National Health Insurance Scheme.
But the Times has learnt that contributors whose names do not appear on the list are made to pay for the premium by the NHIS before registration.
Data at the NHIS national secretariat has been networked to all the mutual schemes such that on submission of a SSNIT number in any of the districts, the scheme operators have to only key in the number to confirm that the person is a SSNIT contributor and can therefore be registered without paying any premium.
A source at the NHIS said many of the numbers submitted by the contributors drawn blank when keyed into the main computer.
The source said, when the NHIS head office started receiving reports about such cases from across the country, the districts were directed to accept evidence of statement of contributions as proof that the person is a contributor and can therefore be registered.
“However, after registering such individuals, SSNIT refused on numerous occasions to reimburse the NHIS with the payment of the premium, insisting that NHIS must adhere strictly to the names on the data,” the source said.
Because of this, the source said, directive was issued from the various district schemes were instructed to stop the registration of people whose named names could not be found on SSNIT master list.
Mr. Harold Brookman-Amissah, Manager I.T. Systems and Operations of SSNIT described the situation as surprising, explaining that if a contributor’s name is not found on the main data, there are many options to follow other than collecting money from the contributors.
He said now that SSNIT insists that employers should file their workers contributions monthly the records are frequently updated on the centralised computer system and sent to NHIS head office every quarterly.
After the records are made available to the NHIS, copies are sent to all SSNIT branches across the country and contributors who are faced with such challenges can contact any SSNIT branch for rectification.
Mr. Kodwo Osei, SSNIT Database Manager said the district mutual schemes might have adopted this approach in order to compel SSNIT contributors to pay for the registration.
This, he said, would enable the district schemes to maximise their internally-generated income to support their operations.
Mr. Osei suggested that the operations of the schemes be centralized for a better control of their incomes.
