The state budget has been adopted and is already being implemented. Mathematically speaking, more funds are allocated for healthcare, but patients also take more money out of their pockets.
"The so-called proposal for optimizing the administrative process - the system of regional health inspections, the Center for Assisted Reproduction is more of an insufficiently well-thought-out move that will be proposed to the Council of Ministers. There is still no transparency on this topic. There is an intention to translate the ideas into action and, accordingly, for these institutions to acquire a new character," commented the health economist from "Equip" Arkadi Sharkov in the program "Denyat ON AIR".
On the one hand, their appropriation by the Ministry of Health and their transformation into various directorates and departments, on the other hand - there is no clear argument, both economically and logically, as to what this would lead to, he specified.
"The Ministry of Health is the owner of these specialized secondary administrators on the one hand, and on the other, these are its eyes", Sharkov pointed out to Bulgaria ON AIR.
In his words, in order to understand the more serious and deeper idea - the topic should be raised publicly and with all interested parties.
"Some may be accepted, but to a large extent the reaction is rather negative. It is necessary to improve the administrative capacity, but not in this way, not without a public discussion on the topic and not without the relevant arguments", believes the health economist. "Depending on the approach, each government assesses how to approach. The system needs upgrading. If we are not going to increase the health contribution, then we should move towards the well-forgotten but logical idea, a second pillar in the healthcare system", further analyzes Sharkov. According to him, there have always been leaks.
"Even if the best advances are made in the direction of transparency and detail of expenses - there are always leaks", is the opinion of the guest. The state, represented by the NHIF, has a policy of partially or fully paying for the medicinal products we purchase through the Cash Fund, Sharkov emphasized.
"The diseases from which the people suffer the most - these medicines are the least reimbursed by the NHIF, which leads to several risks - the risk of dropping out of therapy or buying the medicine and giving up other goods. The large salaries of hospital directors are more like a convenient punching bag", Sharkov commented.