Ghanaian Health Insurance Authority begins biometric capture pilot exercise

The National Health Insurance Authority in Ghana has just begun an exercise to register the biometrics of its subscribers for the National Health Insurance Scheme.

Reported in CitiFM Online, in its pilot phase, the exercise is taking place in in two districts and has so far been restricted to the Ghana Police Service and members of the Armed Forces. The NHIA has developed a system in which subscribers instantly receive a NHIS ID card, containing their biometric information.

Following the completion of the pilot registration exercise, it’s expected that biometric registration will be expanded nationally.

Reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, the decision to use biometrics as a part of this scheme comes as an attempt to reduce fraudulent claims filed by service providers. Under the new process, health facilities that don’t process claims through the new biometric system will not be paid in return.

Ghana has beens a hotbed for biometric system deployments, though not all have been entirely successful. Last year, the country successfully completed an election using biometric verification devices, though not without problems or contest. 

That being said, following its election, by having registered and verified approximately 13 million people for an election within 48 hours, Ghana broke the world record previously held by India for 3.5 million people.  

There have also been reports to suggest the country’s passport office is having trouble managing the large number of applicants for the country’s new biometric passport. 

 

Article Topics

Ghana  |  healthcare  |  identification  |  registration