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Healthcare

(Im)Possible reforms in the NHIF

The state in which the healthcare system was left by Dr. Petar Moskov is bordering on deplorable. The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) again ran a deficit of 50 million leva at the end of 2016, and by now it has grown to 72 million leva. The fingerprint system turned out to be …

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"Social" Sweden - increasingly oriented towards market healthcare

Turning to the market In Sweden, a country known for its generous welfare state that has been severely cut in recent years, a phenomenon is being observed that is unlikely to please those Americans who believe that the answer to the problems of Obamacare (b.p. – the popular name for the Affordable Care Act, introduced by President Obama, obliging …

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Health reform – another historic compromise

Yesterday, the deputies finally adopted legal changes indicating the creation of the long-discussed National Health Card and selectivity of the NHIF in terms of which hospitals it will conclude a contract with. The new reform was enthusiastically welcomed by the ranks of the Reformist Bloc, while the opposition was firmly against it. The goals of the reform The first of them …

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How far has healthcare reform come?

On June 16, after long debates, the Parliament adopted on second reading some of the amendments to the Health Insurance Act proposed by Minister Moskov. The main points of the amendment are as follows: NHIF will divide the health packages into two - basic and additional, with the basic one including socially significant serious diseases for which …

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Requiem for public health

Last Monday it became clear that the Ministry of Health (MOH) has serious intentions to strengthen control over "public health" by introducing sanctions for not going for preventive check-ups: higher health contributions for "offenders". A week before that, Minister Dr. Moskov said that he wants to impose a 10% excise tax on harmful foods and ...

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Are the truly urgent reforms in the healthcare sector or what is going on behind the scenes?

The heated debates surrounding healthcare reforms have recently returned. But instead of the conversation heading in the right direction, namely towards the topic of liberalizing the health insurance market, it has gone astray and has turned to the chasm of fines and collection rates. We are not saying here that there are no problems with the collection of insurance premiums - there are many ...

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Voluntary alternatives to the welfare state

It is difficult to argue with arithmetic and, accordingly, with the thesis that the welfare state is facing bankruptcy. About 30% of everything produced in Europe and North America is seized by the state and spent to improve the well-being of certain social groups – the poor, children, pensioners, etc. However, this redistribution ...

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Private initiative in healthcare and what is stopping it

In recent weeks, a major topic of contention in American politics has been the enactment of a new health insurance system – the so-called Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare). In short, under this system, the federal government obliges every American citizen to purchase health insurance, and in addition …

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Forward to the Middle Ages with pharmaceutical guilds

While the focus of public attention is concentrated on the occupations in universities, the socialist government – quite expectedly – is focused on implementing anti-market reforms. The amendments to the law on medicinal products in human medicine adopted at first reading create conditions for limiting competition in the supply of medicines, and …

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The European Commission's health fascism

Taking a “broader view”, the European Commission has once again taken the step of expanding market regulations and powers at the expense of individual and corporate freedom. The Tobacco Products Directive was due to be voted on on 10 September, but the bill will be considered again on 8 October. Despite the good-sounding clichés …

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