Uptake Of National Health Insurance Among Pregnant Women in Ghana

Abstract

Background: It is expected that with the National Health Insurance Scheme in place, equitable access to healthcare will be assured for all groups of people because access to quality health insurance has shown to have an impact on households. This research assessed the factors associated with the uptake of NHIS among pregnant women of reproductive age in Ghana. Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design to analysed secondary data from 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). Data analysis was performed into descriptive statistic, bivariate and multivariate analyses using SPSS version 21 software. Results: The study found a high proportion (73%) of pregnant women in their reproductive age having a valid NHIS particularly pregnant women between the ages of 15-19 years and 20-24 years having the highest uptake in NHIS. The study again found out that pregnant women in Ashanti Region, Greater Accra region, and Eastern region as well as those in the highest wealth quintile and fourth wealth quintile have registered more on NHIS than pregnant women in other regions and wealth quintile. The bivariate analysis of NHIS uptake and pregnant women socio-demographic characteristics showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between NHIS uptake and region (P = 0.034), education (P = 0.025) and wealth quintile (P = 0.011). Conclusion: This study concludes that NHIS uptake among pregnant women of reproductive age in Ghana is high and this could be due to free health insurance scheme registration for pregnant women in Ghana and free maternal health policy that grants exemption to payment of NHIS among pregnant women. Additionally, socio-demographic factors such as education, region, and wealth quintile were significant predictors of uptake of NHIS among women of reproductive age. v The study recommend that interventions should therefore be geared towards pregnant women empowerment and education on the importance of NHIS.