These schemes only covered 1% of the population in Ghana by 2002. These community-based units identify and categorise beneficiaries, including those who are exempt from payment (the core poor, those aged 70 and over, and retired contributors to the social security system). By 2008, some 12.5 million Ghanaians or 61% of the population were registered with the NHIS (ILO, 2010b).