site.btaParliament votes conclusively National Health Insurance Fund Budget

Parliament voted conclusively the National Health Insurance Fund Budget Act on Tuesday. It sets the health insurance contribution at 8 per cent this year, as much as it was last year. Employers will continue to pay 60 per cent of it and employees 40 per cent. 

The budget for health care will be 6.05 billion leva, which is 604 million leva more than last year. Almost half of it – 2.75 billion leva, is for hospital services.

The allocations for primary medical services is just under 364 million leva and for outpatient services 380 million leva. The budget for dental services 240 million leva.

Former Health Minister Kostadin Angelov, who is now an MP of GERB-UDF, proposed an increase of the budget for hospital services by 100 million leva arguing that the proposed budget is not enough to cover hospitals’ costs. His party also proposed an increase by 4.5 million leva of the budget for medical services to uninsured patients. Angelov warned the power-holders that they don’t provide enough money to achieve their goal of ensuring qualified medics and state-of-the-art equipment in the small population centres.

MP Djevdet Chakurov (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) expressed concern for dentists working on the front line and said they deserve a bonus, too, like the other front-line medics.

Elena Guncheva (Vuzrazhdane) said that this budget will fail to take of the poorest. She argued that the health care budget has too little for dental services and that pensioners can’t afford good dentures. 

Georgi Mihaylov of the Left said that talks are underway with the association of dental technicians and the Dentists Union, and that more money will be made available for dental services when the budget is revised in mid-2022. 

The National Health Insurance Fund Budget Act takes effect from January 1, 2022, except for the transitional and final provisions, which will take effect on the day the law is published in the State Gazette.