site.btaHealth Minister Determined to Push Through Controversial Reform Measure

Health Minister Determined to Push Through Controversial Reform Measure

Sofia, March 9 (BTA) - Health Minister Peter Moskov said on Wednesday that after some editing he will propose again a Health Insurance Act amendment which was overturned by the Constitutional Court upon a petition by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and ABV. The controversial provision was aimed to divide the medical treatment services covered by health insurance into two packages: basic and additional.

Support for Moskov and his healthcare reform was expressed by GERB, the Reformist Bloc and the Patriotic Front. The opposition again demanded the minister's resignation.

Moskov told journalists: "We will get acquainted with the court's reasoning after it is published tomorrow, and where there are imperfections in the text that have led the court to pass this judgment, we will remove them and will propose the amendments again."

"GERB supports the Health Ministry's team," Health Committee Chairwoman Daniela Daritkova said in the Parliament lobby.

Reformist Bloc Co-Floor Leader Radan Kanev said: "The decision of the Constitutional Court and its legal implications have endangered 90 per cent of the planned healthcare reform. The main transformation in Bulgaria is the transformation of healthcare, and if it is thwarted, all our efforts will seem futile."

According to Patriotic Front Floor Leader Valeri Simeonov, the constitutional judges have obviously found flaws in the law which need to be corrected. "I do not see any threat to the healthcare reform itself. Indeed, I want it to continue. What matters is that this healthcare reform is yielding results, so the efforts of the ministerial team should be encouraged," Simeonov said.

"Moskov must pack up and go away!", BSP Chairman Mihail Mikov asserted. According to him, there are many things that can be done to make healthcare more accessible, because now it is nothing but business.

Another call for the Health Minister's resignation came from the MRF's Hassan Ademov, who said: "Moskov ought to be so kind as to submit his resignation. He has to get out of this situation if he wants to save face. Considering that Minister Moskov received a resounding slap on his face from his colleagues during the Convention of the Medical Association when the National Framework Agreement was not signed, and considering that the Supreme Administrative Court rejected the methodology for drawing up the regional health maps and now the Constitutional Court rejected the basic and additional packages, we can conclude that our warnings and statements had been right." Ademov expressed his regret that Moskov did not heed their arguments.