NHIF

Main picture This year, healthcare spending increased by another 490 million leva, with the NHIF budget reaching 4.35 billion leva. As every year, the budget increases, with the percentage change compared to the previous year 2018 being 11%. This year, there is no change in the insurance burden, with health insurance remaining at 8%. This should not reassure …

When we talk about health, does more money equal better quality? How accessible is medical care in Bulgaria? What are the useful moves before the institutions? The state of the system Questions like the above have been asked annually, and this year marks twenty years since the beginning of the reform. A beginning that is not …

The month was marked by the extremely high activity of our health economist Arkadi Sharkov in the media. Currently, a deep public debate is underway in our country regarding the problems in the healthcare system and the necessary reforms that can solve them. Sharkov and others took an active part in this debate in all possible ways …

In recent weeks, the main topics on which the EKIP made a number of appearances in the media were related to Bulgaria's potential entry into the Eurozone, the proposed bans on the advertising and distribution of lottery games, and the "Freedom for Hemp" protest march on the need to decriminalize marijuana in the country. Dimitar Karagegov, as the organizer of …

Uncontrollably growing budget for medicines Over the past few years, the growth in the cost of medicines paid by the NHIF has been between 15-20% on an annual basis. In 2018, the costs reached 1 billion, and the primary reaction of the institutions was the so-called limitation of payment for innovative medicines, entitled "moratorium", which fell ...

What are the critical points that the healthcare system will face by the end of 2018? Over the past few months, we have witnessed a number of scandals in the healthcare sector and an unceasing whirlpool of ideas, proposals and policies that, after an attempt to be put into practice, are rejected by the system in every possible way and …

In connection with the deepening financial instability of the healthcare sector in Bulgaria, the experts from the EKIP have found a solution to the problem of the continuous increase in the costs of medicines of the NHIF. The analysis used data from the drug group of sartans (medicinal products for the treatment of arterial hypertension) for the period 2005-2016. …

Author: Kaloyan Staykov They say that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. This phrase seems like a very accurate analogy to the moratorium imposed on the financing of new drugs and new medical activities by the National Health Insurance Fund in 2018. The reason for the restrictions is the inability of the authorities to limit the steep increase in health insurance costs in …

What is the problem? Several months have passed since Dr. Ilko Semerdzhiev, as acting Minister of Health, signed a contract to launch a European project with the Ministry of Health as a beneficiary under the Operational Program "Good Governance". The project concerns the completion of the National Health Information System (NHIS) and has a duration of 22 months. The project …

Author: Kaloyan Staykov In mid-August, the government published for public discussion warmed-up proposals for reform of the drug policy, with the focus on improving access to medicinal products in the country. The problem with access arises mainly for two reasons: parallel export[1] – it is envisaged to create a restrictive list of medicines whose export can be …