site.btaPatients' Organization Urges Parliament to Reject Health Budget Bill

Sofia, October 31 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Patients' Forum (BPF) on Tuesday urged the National Assembly to reject the 2018 National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) Budget Bill.

At a BTA-hosted news conference, the BPF said that if the new clauses in the transitional and final provisions of the bill are adopted, this will imply genocide against Bulgarian patients, which is why the organization will alert the European Commission, BPF President Ivan Dimitrov said. He protested against a provision which says that the NHIF will not cover the costs of innovative medicines in 2018 and will not sign agreements on new hospital services. Innovative medicines are developed mainly for cancer treatment, rheumatology and other therapies which are the patients' last hope.

Dimitrov described the proposed 400 million leva increase of the NHIF's annual budget as unrealistic and populist. He recalled that the NHIF owes European funds more than 200 million leva for medical treatment of Bulgarians abroad.