Associate professor of infectious diseases Atanas Mangarov sharply criticized the healthcare payment model, calling for the separation of medical salaries from treatment costs. He expressed support for the demands of young doctors to tie their salaries to the average salary in the country.
"The payment for medical work should be separated from that for treatment. What is happening now is like paying firefighters for a fire that has been extinguished. The more fires, the more money," the associate professor said in the program "Workdays" with host Nikolay Kolev.
The infectious disease specialist commented on the demands of young doctors to tie their salaries to the average salary in the country. According to him, this proposal is reasonable and should be applied to all medical specialists.
"This contract should be between medical workers and the health insurance fund and it should not be tied to the number of patients who have passed," Associate Professor Mangarov also pointed out.
According to the specialist, the current model creates incorrect incentives in the system, where medical institutions receive more funds for more patients, regardless of the quality of medical work. He insists on a fundamental change in the approach to paying doctors.
Associate Professor Mangarov's statement comes in the midst of intense debates about the salaries of young doctors. In recent weeks, parliamentary parties have introduced several bills to guarantee decent wages in healthcare, with the main demand being a minimum wage of 150% of the average wage in the country.