Evaluating the inclusion of family planning within the National Health Insurance benefits package in Ghana

Contraceptive use in Ghana has remained low despite annual increases since 2012. Having a high unmet need for family planning (FP) suggests that there may be barriers to access and uptake. Over time, several policies, including Ghana’s Costed Implementation Plan from 2015–20, have suggested FP initiatives to improve contraceptive use yet they have not been entirely implemented. Further, although FP was included in the health insurance act passed in 2003, amended in 2008, and revised in 2012, which indicated that health-care benefits include FP, people continue to pay out of pocket for services at National Health Insurance Authority facilities because the policy is yet to be implemented. In some settings, evidence suggests an increase in contraceptive uptake with the removal of out-of-pocket costs for FP services, therefore embedding an FP package into Ghana’s national health insurance scheme may increase uptake of FP service and method mix and improve health outcomes. As noted in this report, this study assessed the impact of the FP pilot intervention, namely out-of-pocket cost removal for FP services, demand generation for FP, and provider training on long-acting reversible contraceptives service provision on FP service uptake