Extending Health Insurance to Informal Sector Workers in Ghana

This poster presents findings on health insurance coverage for people working in the informal sector in Ghana. Informal sector workers tend to have irregular incomes, limited social and legal protections, and high exposure to financial hardship from health related costs. Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) reduces catastrophic health expenditure, and this study assesses the impact of the scheme on catastrophic health expenditures specifically for informal sector workers in Ghana.

Findings highlighted differentiations in NIHS membership across different groups, as did access to healthcare. This is aligned to findings in studies in other LMICs. NHIS offers limited financial protection for informal sector workers in Ghana and there is no significant reduction in catastrophic health expenditure and related poverty. Therefore to improve effectiveness of NHIS, it is important to expand the coverage and scope, and enhance access and service quality. Policies need to reflect the needs of informal workers to advance equity in health coverage.

Read the full poster: Extending Health Insurance to Informal Sector Workers in Ghana

By Jemima Sumboh, Helen Elsey, Noemia Siqueira, Hull York Medical School-University of York

and Marc Suhrcke, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) and Hull York Medical School, University of York