site.btaSocialists Call on President to Veto Health Insurance Act Amendments

Socialists Call on President to Veto Health Insurance Act Amendments

Sofia, June 24 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Socialist Party on
Wednesday urged President Rosen Plevneliev to veto last week's
amendments to the Health Insurance Act, one of which was
described by Socialist MP Emil Rainov as "insane."

This particular provision says that the medical services
financed by the National Health Insurance Fund will be divided
into a core and supplementary package so as to ease pressure on
the system by introducing a waiting list for certain diseases.

Rainov said the clause implies an unprecedented split of the
medical service package guaranteed to all health-insured
persons, without clear rules and financial reasoning. "The
amendments [...] create a situation where some people have quick
 access to the health care system while others have to wait -
and maybe they also have to pay extra money," Rainov said.

"Health Minister Peter Moskov is apparently planning to divide
the people into two classes: those who are socially significant
and those who are not," Rainov said. He said the clause dealt a
severe blow to the health insurance system which is based on two
 fundamental principles: solidarity and equal access to health
care.

The Socialists' Deputy Floor Leader Kornelia Ninova said the
President's reaction will show whether he is the president of
the whole nation or whether he sides with the strong, and
whether he respects the Constitution or not.