Atubiga Laments High Cost Of His Surgery And Treatment, Makes Bold Proposals To Gov’t On NHIS

Renowned politician and founder of National Liberation Congress (NLC) Stephen Atubiga is lamenting the cost of his surgery and medical treatment for his fractured leg following the deadly accident he suffered recently. According to him, his total bill so far sums up to a staggering Twenty-three thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC23,000.00).

 

He indicated that his medical insurance covers just a fragment of the cost, adding that his bill could balloon by the time he is finally discharged from the hospital. From his hospital bed, Mr Atubiga explained that the cost of titanium plates that were used to fix his fractured bone in the leg stood at Nine Thousand, Five hundred and Fifty Ghana Cedis (GHC 9,550) per piece.

He however did not mention the number of titanium plates that were used to fix his leg but showed an x-ray image of his leg before the surgery. That notwithstanding, Mr Atubiga said all expenses not covered by his medical insurance had to be paid upfront before treatment.

 

That, he described as a troubling situation to the country’s healthcare and medical insurance system. He emphasized that these details are published “just for you readers to appreciate my cry for a review of our national health insurance system.”

 

 

Proposals for Government

Mr Atubiga is calling for a total review of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) such that certain medical services could be borne especially for the needy in society. He argued that the government could come up with a new category of beneficiaries and a premium payment plan such that people from the middle class upward who for the nature of their work suffer major health risks could subscribe to.

 

He added that conditions such as dialysis, cardiological illness, diabetes and others could be made free so that lives could be saved.

 

“Government should own and build more hospitals that provide free chronic diseases treatments for the poor. Like kidney disease treatment to transplant should be free,” he emphasized.

Another proposal from Mr Atubiga is the need to privatize the national ambulance service. He argued that it makes great sense to capture ambulance service under the National Health Insurance Scheme so as to avoid the recurring cost of refuelling and maintenance of the vehicles.

 

 “Our ambulance system will also be billing clients through the health insurance system to avoid victims being asked to pay or to buy fuel before getting transported to access treatment. The ambulance system must be in partnership with a private partnership for better management and maintenance of equipment. Every region must have a different partnership. A topic for another day discussion.”

Read more via his post on this link.

https://www.facebook.com/100001267773867/posts/4938999402818937/

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Atubiga
GHC
Ghana Cedis
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National Liberation Congress