"I will not close hospitals during my term" Election situation and political promises The elections are approaching rapidly, the political situation is intensifying, the promises to the electorate are becoming more radical and unarguable. Each of the candidates is striving to encompass interest groups and satisfy their needs and desires. In this turbulent political …
More »EKIP in the media about the cap on cash payments and the coming recession
Media appearances in August covered the presentation of our new study against the restriction of cash payments, healthcare, is a new economic recession coming, and the accuracy of drug tests used by the traffic police. The latest economic analysis of the EKIP - "Regulations on cash payments and their effects" presents evidence that ...
More »More questions than solutions
More than a week ago, a draft amendment to the Law on Medicinal Products in Human Medicine (LMHPHM) was published on the website of the Ministry of Health. In addition to the changes to the law itself, the transitional and final provisions of the draft make adjustments to 10 other laws related to healthcare. A similar case was …
More »EKIP in the media about VAT differentiation and pension increases
The activity of the experts from the EKIP continues in June with participation in media discussions related to reforms in the pension system and healthcare, the proposal to reduce VAT, entry into ERM II, legalization of marijuana, etc. The topic that most excited the public during the month was the proposal of the MRF to reduce …
More »Banished medicines
This year's budget for medicines in Bulgaria amounts to 1.2 billion leva, forming a quarter of the total healthcare budget of the National Health Insurance Fund. However, our market still lacks certain medicines that are easily accessible in the European market. The lack of these medicines, as well as the abuses on this market, are mainly due to …
More »Which is the better hospital?
Healthcare spending is increasing year by year, with the largest increase in absolute terms over the past few years being observed in the hospital care item in the NHIF budget. It represents nearly 47% of the department's budget, and since 2014 it has grown by BGN 750 million, or …
More »Healthcare based on the formula "no dissatisfied people"
The principle of "no dissatisfied" is particularly respected in the pre-election environment in Bulgaria. This year's elections are double, and so are the expectations. The promise of the ruling party that no hospitals will be closed during their term speaks well enough about the attitude they have towards reforms in the healthcare system. In order to ...
More »TEAM in the media about the new pension formula and healthcare problems
The topics of the participation of authors from the EKIP in March concerned: social security, healthcare, religion. Editor-in-chief Georgi Vuldjev, in the news of bTV, shared his concern about the falsification of documents for receiving a pension. According to him, there is no archival information available about what insurance contributions individuals have paid and to what extent …
More »TEAM in the media on drug policy, the pension system and the euro
We started 2019 with a strong start – the topic of healthcare is hot again and the EKIP presented a new study: Proposal for a rational drug policy. The author of the analysis, health economist Arkadi Sharkov, was a guest on one of the most watched shows on the domestic airwaves – “Face to Face” on BTV. According to him, for …
More »Proposal for a rational drug policy
This article is a summary of our new analysis and proposal for reform of the drug policy in Bulgaria. What did we find out? The analysis covers 56% of health-insured persons and 40% of the funds reimbursed by the NHIF and includes 4 groups of diseases: cardiovascular, malignant tumors, diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid. In 2016, over 2.5 million health-insured …
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EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion