Factors Influencing National Health Insurance Scheme (Nhis) Premium Renewal In Kintampo North Municipality

ABSTRACT Background: To remove the financial hitches to access to health care services and to guarantee equitable access to quality services especially by the poor and vulnerable, the government of Ghana passed the National Health Insurance Law, 2003 (Act 650) and the National Health Insurance Regulations, 2004(L.I 1809 (Government of Ghana (GoG), 2004). The study seeks to determine factors influencing the National Health Insurance Scheme renewal. Aim: The objective of the study was to assess factors influencing NHIS premium renewal among individuals 18 years and above in Kintampo North Municipality. Method: Descriptive cross-sectional studies will be used to conduct a study in Kintampo North Municipality with a sample size of 308. A multi-staged sampling technique was used in this study. Simple random sampling technique was used to randomly select three subdistricts out of the six sub-districts. Only participants who gave consent to participate in the study were interviewed. Results: Only 24.9% of the total NHIS registrants in Kintampo north Municipality had renewed their NHIS premiums. Most of the respondents (63%) had not renewed their NHIS premiums and cited high cost of NHIS premiums as the main obstacle. A high proportion (87.0%) of the respondents who had renewed their NHIS premiums, did so at the district offices. Conclusion: Majority of respondents who had not renewed their NHIS premiums cited high cost of premium, poor quality of health care and long queues at hospital OPD as barriers to NHIS premium renewal.