site.btaSocial Partners Discuss Draft Health Insurance Budget

National Health Insurance Fund Director Stanimir Mihaylov said that the draft NHIF budget, including revenues and transfers, is about BGN 9.47 billion. Health insurance revenues are BGN 9.25 billion; funds in the amount of BGN 8.87 billion have earmarked for health insurance payments; BGN 647 million is envisaged for primary outpatient medical care, BGN 658 million for specialized outpatient medical care, BGN 303 million for diagnostic activities and BGN 4.1 billion for hospital medical care, Mihaylov indicated.

The ministries of health and finance expressed support for the draft budget of the NHIF.

Vasil Velev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association, said that the organization does not support the draft budget of the National Health Insurance Fund. “In this budget, all the lobbies have something to be happy about, and the people clearly have no lobby, because they pay for expensive treatment and expensive medicines when it is already too late, instead of detecting diseases at an early stage by introducing European standards for screening starting from an earlier age, covering a wider range of tests,” Velev pointed out.

Maria Mincheva, Deputy Chair of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce said that her organization expects significant changes. “It is extremely urgent to start a structured conversation about financing both the entire healthcare system and the social insurance institution” she argued.

Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Chair Tsvetan Simeonov said that the BCCI highly appreciates the government's efforts to prepare a draft budget that works in favour of Bulgaria’s accession to the eurozone. “We realize that a higher goal is being pursued and compromises must be made,” he noted.

Deyan Denev from the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (KRIB): KRIB supports the bill in principle. The support is not unconditional, for several years the NHIF has been operating in a situation of a conditionally hidden deficit. The planned 16% increase in the NHIF's health insurance payments compared to last year's budget will allow people to have better access to quality medical care.

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) will abstain on the matter. The main reason is that the money for staff in the NHIF has been reduced compared to the draft budget proposed by the caretaker cabinet with Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev. The average age of people working in the NHIF is 60 years, there is a lack of young specialists, the CITUB explained.

Podkrepa Confederation of Labour President Dimitar Manolov: Podkrepa will abstain given the unrealized preliminary requests for an increase in the income of those working in the NHIF. This budget was prepared on a historical basis and lacks policies and reforms to address the main challenges to the system.