site.btaBulgarian Health Minister: Clinical Pathway Prices Cannot Be Updated without Budget

Caretaker Health Minister, Assoc. Prof. Mihail Okoliyski, stated that updating the prices of clinical pathways is impossible without an allocated budget, and the entire process requires structural transformation. He was speaking at the opening of the country’s first center for cerebrovascular disease treatment at Sofia’s University Hospital St. Anna, noting that the healthcare system has been under severe strain for more than a month and a half.

Okoliyski emphasized that any actions must follow legal procedures and are initiated jointly by the Bulgarian Medical Association and the National Health Insurance Fund, with the Ministry acting solely as a mediator. He also expressed concern over the timing of the recent request from the Medical Association for an urgent update to the National Framework Agreement on medical service prices, suggesting it could have political motivations. 

The Bulgarian Medical Association had called on the Minister to take immediate steps to sign an annex to the framework agreement to urgently update the prices of all medical procedures.