The Ministry of Health is proposing large-scale changes in the health administration - among them are the closure of the 28 regional health inspectorates and their unification into three main directorates, the merger of emergency medical care centers into the National Emergency Medical Care, as well as the reduction of the administration. The closure of the National Council for Prices and Reimbursement of Medicinal Products is also planned, NOVA NEWS reports.
The Ministry of Health points out that the proposals are not yet final decisions. “The ideas published in the public domain are exactly that - ideas. They are the result of an expert analysis of the current administrative structure and have a single goal - to initiate a conversation on how the state can work more effectively in the interests of citizens,“ says the Minister of Health Katya Ivkova.
The ideas for changes have caused negative reactions from patient organizations. The Chairperson of the Association of Patients Active in Healthcare Aneta Draganova warned that the closure of the National Council on Prices and Reimbursement could lead to delays in patients' access to new medicines. “This is worrying for us because it will bring great risks in terms of the entry of new medicinal products into the positive medicinal list. We must note that the council is a working structure that guarantees transparency, which guarantees the rapid entry of new molecules for reimbursement with public resources,“ she said. According to her, this could bring chaos, as the organizations have long insisted on the creation of the structure precisely for the sake of transparency and faster access to new therapies.
“The delay would be drastic. Since this council has existed, there has been almost no delay in therapies. Every new molecule that is approved by the Executive Agency for Medicines is reimbursed under the National Clinical Research Fund within 3-6 months with public resources“, said Draganova. Patient organizations are also concerned about another proposal - that the regional medical expertise files be transferred to the National Expert Medical Commission.
The Ministry of Health, for its part, emphasizes that the proposals will be presented for public discussion.