Equity Aspects of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana: A Comparison of the Quality of Healthcare Provided in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality

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2013-03-21
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Abstract
Equity is perceived as an important or even the most important goal in healthcare. Indeed it is even seen by some as a human right; but Ghana has struggled for years to provide equitable and adequate healthcare services for all her citizens. The National Health Insurance Scheme was however implemented to provide a more equitable and uniform healthcare service for Ghanaians. This study was undertaken to measure equity in terms of the quality of healthcare provided by NHIS accredited health facilities and was organized into five chapters. In addition to reviewing various works that have researched on the NHIS, quality of health services and equity in health/healthcare, it was concluded that NHIS accredited health facilities in urban areas provided a higher quality of healthcare than their counterparts in rural areas. Also, NHIS accredited private health facilities provided the highest quality of healthcare; followed by faith based (mission) health facilities with public health facilities providing the least quality of care among the three types of facilities. The analytical framework presented by the research in chapter four also revealed that, the location of the health facility that a patient attended did affect the quality of healthcare they received. The study will therefore help policy makers especially management of health facilities to pay particular attention to the quality of healthcare they provide in other to improve upon it.  
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A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Economics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Master of Arts Degree in Economics, March-2013
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