site.btaPharmacists Meet with Health Fund to Explore Payment Models, Set to Meet Again Next Week

Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union (BPhU) President Dimitar Marinov and Acting Director of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) Momchil Mavrov met on Friday to discuss payment models for pharmacies. The meeting comes after protest actions by pharmacies earlier this week. Both of them spoke to the press after their meeting.

Mavrov said that nine pharmacies submitted NHIF contract termination notices in protest against the proposed regulatory changes and Marinov added that some owners decided to wait before filing their termination notices because of the ongoing stakeholder talks.

"New alternatives have emerged, and we will discuss them tonight at the BPhU Board meeting", Marinov said, adding that the Health Ministry has published a draft amendment to the Health Insurance Act (HIA) on its website, making the talks pointless.

Mavrov refused to comment on the changes to HIA. "The most important thing right now is that there is ongoing dialogue", he said.

Marinov and Mavrov confirmed that a new meeting has been scheduled for next week.