site.btaBulgarian Pharmaceutical Union Urges Health Minister Kondeva to Withdraw Proposed Amendments to Health Insurance Act

The Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union (BPhU) urges caretaker Health Minister Galya Kondeva to withdraw proposed amendments to the Health Insurance Act concerning pharmacists, and commit to not promulgating the ordinance regarding changes to prescribing medicines before the method and conditions of payment to pharmacies are agreed. The information was released by BPhU President Dimitar Marinov ahead of a meeting between the leaderships of the organisation and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

The meeting is expected to continue Thursday’s talks on proposed amendments to a regulation which change the way medicines are prescribed and the way pharmacies are paid for dispensing medicines fully reimbursable by the NHIF.

Inflamed by legal changes chipping away at their income, pharmacies in some parts of the country Thursday held half-hour stoppages and threatened to stop working with the NHIF. The controversial changes were made by the NHIF and concern payments to pharmacies for the handling of fully reimbursable prescriptions.