site.btaParliament Unanimously Lifts Moratorium on National Health Insurance Fund Reimbursement of Innovative Medicines

Sofia, December 21 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Parliament Thursday lifted a moratorium on the reimbursement of any medicinal products with a new International Nonproprietary Name whose inclusion in the Positive Drug List has been applied for or any such medicines which will be reimbursable for the first time in 2018. The MPs unanimously approved an amendment to the 2018 National Health Insurance Fund Budget Act on first and second reading, repealing Paragraph 6 of its Transitional and Final Provisions.

The original Act was adopted conclusively on November 29. President Rumen Radev vetoed its Paragraph 6 on December 8, but Parliament overrode the veto on December 14. The move, proposed by Health Minister Kiril Ananiev and intended to plug a hole through which public funds on healthcare are allegedly misspent, triggered a series of protests from patients' organizations. If left in place, the moratorium would have affected 32 innovative medicines for cancer, asthma, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, etc., potentially needed by 8,600 patients and estimated to cost some 40 million leva. The Positive Drug List comprises all medicines used in State-financed health facilities and programmes or covered in whole or in part by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

The lifting of the moratorium was moved jointly by the floor leaders of all five parliamentary groups. The idea was to allay fears that innovative medicines will be unaffordable to patients who need them.

During the debate, GERB Floor Leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov thanked all parliamentary groups for the consensus reached and called on politicians to be more humble and not to play on people's fears.

BSP for Bulgaria Floor Leader Kornelia Ninova argued that without pressure from the public and the opposition, GERB would have adopted the same decision again.

Socialist MP Georgi Mihailov called on all MPs to reconsider the vision of Bulgarian healthcare and noted that his party remains open for a serious professional discussion on the subject.

Nigyar Dzhafer MP of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms said that consensus should be reached when important decisions are discussed and adopted and not when blunders are glossed over.

President Rumen Radev welcomed the change in the approach and the repeal of the ban on payment for certain medicinal products from the NHIF budget in 2018, the head of State's Press Secretariat said. Radev called on all parliamentary groups to take into account ethical considerations and to act in the interest of citizens' constitutional rights and social justice.

In a related development, the Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA) sent a letter to the National Assembly Chair and all floor leaders insisting on the scrapping of another two provisions of the 2018 NHIF Budget Act which, according to the BMA, impede the exercise of the fundamental human right to accessible medical care. One provision prohibits the payment by the NHIF for new activities and procedures next year. The other provision obliges general practitioners to present to the NHIF the cash register receipts on examinations of pensioners as part of the support documents required for payment of the difference between the co-payment fee charged from pensioners and from other health-insured persons.