site.btaMinister Sees Political Appointments as Biggest Problem in Healthcare

The biggest problem in healthcare are the many political appointments, Health Minister Hristo Hinkov said on Sunday, interviewed by Bulgarian National Radio.

Hinkov said: "The biggest problem in healthcare is not that private capital cannot be combined with state-run hospitals and there is some sort of competition, but that there are too many political appointments. In fact, the appointments are mainly political, in a system which should not serve politics." He was referring to the appointments of hospital directors and heads of regional health inspectorates. "I think this is a big mistake," he added.

Hinkov is determined to leave the government after the rotation in March.

Meanwhile, he plans to extend the ban on insulin exports, which expires in January, probably by a month. He said: "The issue is very sensitive at the European level. The European Commission is working on a new pharmaceutical package, which is aimed to resolve the problems related to re-export." The problem in Bulgaria is the lack of a system for comprehensive control over the movement of medicines from the moment they are dispensed to the point of being sold to the patients.

The ban has had a positive effect, Hinkov said, noting that no insulin shortages have been reported recently. He added, however, that re-exports cannot be held back with orders much longer.

"I sincerely hope that the healthcare budget goes to the people, to those who work in the sector, and discourages them from quitting their jobs. I hope it goes to young doctors, postgraduate medical students, it goes towards medicines, to prevent the unregulated export of expensive drugs - to make this unprecedentedly large budget serve a good purpose." He noted that the 2024 budget of the National Health Insurance Fund tops BGN 1 billion.

He warned that the budget may be just like water in the sand unless other measures are taken to stop the money drain.

Discussing a journalistic investigation into private and state hospitals setting different prices for the same medicine from the same distributor, the minister said that the National Assembly recently revoked a requirement for private hospitals to conduct public procurement procedures for medicines and consumables covered by health insurance. "It will make sense if private hospitals as well as state hospitals are required to conduct public procurement procedures, but private hospitals were defended in Parliament. They obviously have a strong lobby," Hinkov said.