Ashanti Region to Get Instant Biometric ID Cards from July 2014  


The National Health insurance Authority, NHIA will roll out the issuance of the instant Biometric ID cards in the Ashanti Region from the ninth of next month.
 
This is the fourth region to be covered after the Greater Accra, Central and Eastern Region, where all districts have been covered. 

Addressing newsmen in Kumasi, the Director of Management Information Systems at the NHIA, Perry Nelson said the nationwide roll-out of the instant issuance of ID card system based on biometric data started in January this year and was hopeful that the whole country will be covered by the close of the year. 

He said all district offices of the NHIA in Ashanti are registration centres. 

However, a mobile team is being set up to be moving around to provide assistance to districts which may have congestion at their centers at any given time. 

Mr. Nelson explained that the NHIA is implementing a biometric solution to handle challenges with duplications of enrolment to ensure data integrity of the NHIS membership system. 

It will also enable the NHIA to biometrically authenticate subscribers at health provider sites to discourage multiple claims submissions. 

He said the new card shall be valid for five years subject to yearly membership renewals. 

Mr. Nelson advised subscribers that only those whose cards are near their expiry dates or first time subscribers should visit the centers because there is no rush, one their cards are not near its expiry date. 

This is to ensure that the centers are not congested, as the old cards are as valid as the new biometric ones. 

Mr. Nelson emphasized that no service provider will turn any NHIS subscriber away on the basis of possessing the old card. 

He said healthcare providers and facilities are accepting both the old and new cards until the old ones are gradually phased out of the system.

GBC