The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is Ghana’s public health insurance, established under the National Health Insurance Act 2012 (Act 852).
It is inexpensive, it covers a genuinely broad list of conditions, and it is funded largely by a levy you already pay every time you buy something — the NHIL, at 2.5% on most goods and services.
It is also under strain, and most people in Accra who can afford an alternative use one alongside it.
Registering
What you need: your Ghana Card. That is largely it — NHIS membership is now linked to the Ghana Card.
Where: NHIS district offices, or through the NHIS mobile renewal service.
Cost: registration and annual renewal are modest, typically around ₵25 to ₵50 for an informal-sector adult. Fees vary by district.
Exempt from premiums:
- Children under 18
- Adults from 70
- Pregnant women
- SSNIT contributors and SSNIT pensioners
- Indigents, under the scheme’s assessment
- LEAP beneficiaries
New membership takes 90 days to activate
Roughly 3 months. Register before you need it. Registering after a diagnosis does not work, which is precisely the point of the waiting period.
Renewing
Renewal is the part people forget, and an expired card is the same as no card at the counter.
You can renew by mobile:
- Dial the NHIS short code from a registered phone
- Confirm your details
- Pay by MoMo
It takes a couple of minutes and avoids the district office entirely. Set a calendar reminder a month before expiry.
What it covers
NHIS covers a substantial benefit package — the scheme states it covers the great majority of common conditions in Ghana:
- Outpatient consultations and most general medical care
- Inpatient care, including admission and meals
- Maternity care, including deliveries and caesarean sections
- Emergency care
- Most childhood illnesses
- Malaria treatment
- Hypertension and diabetes management
- Eye and dental care within defined limits
- Medicines on the NHIS medicines list
What it does not cover
- Cosmetic surgery
- Dialysis for chronic renal failure — a significant and much-criticised gap
- Organ transplants
- Cancer treatment beyond cervical and breast cancer
- Antiretrovirals, which are provided through a separate national programme
- Assisted reproduction
- Medicines not on the NHIS list
- Care at facilities not accredited to the scheme
The practical reality
Registering is the easy part. Using it has friction:
Queues at public facilities are long. Korle Bu, 37 Military and Ridge handle enormous volumes. Arriving early is not optional.
Medicines are not always in stock. Facilities are sometimes owed substantial sums by the scheme, and when reimbursement lags, supply follows. You are then asked to buy the drug from a pharmacy yourself — legal, common, and not what the card promised.
Not every facility is accredited. Check before you go, particularly for private clinics.
Some facilities charge informally for things NHIS should cover. You are entitled to refuse and to complain to the NHIA.
Do you also need private insurance?
For most people in Accra who can afford it, the answer in practice is yes — either private insurance or the willingness to pay cash at a private clinic.
NHIS is excellent value for: routine care, maternity, malaria, chronic disease management, and catastrophic-cost protection at public facilities.
Private cover buys you: short queues, a choice of facility, reliable drug supply, and access to private hospitals such as Nyaho, the Bank Hospital, Lister or Trust.
Employers commonly provide private cover as a benefit. If yours does, check what it actually includes — dependants, dental, optical, and the annual limit — because these vary a great deal.
Register for NHIS regardless. It costs very little, it covers the expensive tail risk at public facilities, and the 90-day wait means it is useless as an emergency measure.
Where to actually go
Hospitals and clinics in Accra Malaria and staying healthy
In an emergency: 112, or the National Ambulance Service on 193.