Background
Health insurance coverage is an imperative aspect of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) [1, 2]. In Canada, every citizen and legal residents of the country has basic health insurance coverage which is provided by the government [3]. /e public programme, therefore, accounts for only 37.1% of residents. /is shows that public-funded health insurance as practiced by Canada is the way to go to ensure equity and financial protection. Learning from the developed countries, some low- and middle-income countries have begun introducing health
insurance to their populations. A study by Escobar et al (2010) in Costa Rica, Peru, Indonesia, Rural China, Columbia, as well as Ghana on the impact of health insurance in low- and middle-income countries, ascertained a positive Hindawi Advances in Public Health Volume 2021, Article ID 5575822, 8 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/5575822 correlation between health insurance status and good health outcomes [4, 5].
In 2012, the Ghana Parliament made the membership of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) mandatory for all residents in the country through an Act of Parliament [6]. However, out of the 18.5 million people who are registered in the scheme, only 10 million (40%) are active [7, 8]. /is, if not addressed, could hamper the country’s effort to attain 100% health insurance coverage for the Ghanaian population by the year 2030.
This calls for pragmatic measures in retaining the existing members in addition to enrolling the noninsured in order not to deter Ghana’s effort to achieve UHC. Some studies have been conducted in the Eastern, Central, and Volta Regions of Ghana to ascertain factors that influence enrolment and retention into the health insurance scheme [9, 10]. However, Ashanti Region, the second largest and the most populated region in Ghana, had not benefited from such studies. In addition, for those regions, which have benefited from such studies, the investigations were facility-based, scheme-based, and based on individual factors influencing the nonrenewability of NHIS. How socio-demographic factors, household factors, and health system factors influenced the nonrenewability of NHIS membership had not been adequately explored in Ghana. Therefore, there was a need for such a study to be conducted in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality as a lesson from the region could be used in other regions in the country and even in other countries in the sub-region. /is will help put measures in
place to propel the country toward achieving its aim of 100% health insurance coverage.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL PROJECT