Vice President of Ghana Dr Mahamudu Bawumia launched the latest of government’s digitization efforts on Monday, November 9, 2020, at the start of the NHIS Week Celebration in Accra. The government’s quest to make the Ghana Card the sole source of identification for persons living in Ghana and for accessing public services has received a major boost following the completion of works to integrate the National Health Insurance Card with the Ghana Card.
The policy direction of the government, he said, is to deepen technology application in addressing Ghana’s development problems as much as possible.
“The scope of digitisation in the health sector is enormous. It ranges from procurement, to nationwide drugs inventory management system, patient record management, portability of patients’ records across the country, to health insurance management, and billing verification and payments across providers.
“Today, as part of Government policy to make the Ghana Card the standard ID for all residents in Ghana, the NHIA is launching the next step in the digitisation journey – linkage of the Ghana Card with the NHIS card. After today, NHIS members can through their mobile phone using *929# will link their NHIS card to their Ghana Card.
“They can then use the Ghana card to renew their NHIS membership through mobile money. They will also be able to use their Ghana Card to access health services at all accredited providers. This pilot is being launched today 9th November for the start of NHIS Week.”
Dr. Bawumia also announced that integration between the Ghana Card and the Tax Identification Numbers, SSNIT cards, Passport, DVLA, Bank Accounts and SIM cards will be launched in the early part of 2021 and together with the Universal QR Code for payments, will make Ghana a functional digital economy.
In a related development, the Management of the NHIS have announced that as part of the NHIS Week, the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has granted a waiver, for those who take advantage of the offer in this week, for the scrapping of the one month waiting period for delayed renewals and new registrations.
“We encourage all 23.1 million residents of Ghana who have registered to use this opportunity to renew their membership. For those who have a Ghana Card and NHIS card, please do the linkage and use your Ghana Card to access healthcare.”
How to Link Your NHIS and Ghana Card
- Dial *929#
- Select option 4 (link NIA Ghana Card)
- Enter the 13 digits Ghana Card PIN – “GHA –XXXXXXXXX-X”
- Press send.
- Enter the 8 digits NHIS membership number.
- Press Send.
- Wait for confirmation message.
