site.btaParliament Approves Conclusively Mechanism for Health Insurance Fund Payments for Cancer Drugs

Parliament Wednesday amended conclusively the Health Insurance Act to introduce a mechanism for payments from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) for cancer drugs so as to prevent the siphoning of the Fund. The idea is to save public resources from payments for cancer treatment drugs, the sponsors from GERB-UDF and Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria said.

The NHIF will pay the lowest price achieved by the hospital, not higher than the weighted average. If the health care facility has achieved a price which is more than 20% higher than the lowest price, the wholesalers will refund the health care facilities.

Parliament gave the Health Minister until April 1 to draw up an ordinance in accordance with the Health Insurance Act. As of July 1, the NHIF will pay for medicinal products a value equal to that determined by the adopted mechanism. Until July 1, contracts signed before the entry into force of this Act between hospital care providers and wholesalers authorized to trade in medicinal products must be brought in compliance with the requirements of the amended law.

As of July 1, wholesalers of medicinal products will have to reimburse the difference between the value paid by the NHIF and the value at which the medicinal products are supplied to the hospital care providers.