The Ministry of Interior is investigating several alleged schemes for fraud of the National Health Insurance Fund, in which the code of an expensive drug was replaced with a code of a cheap drug. The expensive drugs were then directed for re-export, instead of reaching patients in Bulgaria. This was announced by Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev to journalists in parliament.
“This loophole was left in the systems and was subsequently used“, said Demerdzhiev. According to him, the expensive drug was thus replaced in the electronic system with a cheap product that is available in the pharmacy network. According to the minister, in this way the medicines were exported abroad, and patients were left without the necessary treatment.
The inspections will be nationwide
Demerdzhiev indicated that the inspections will cover the entire country. The managements of the National Health Insurance Fund and the National Revenue Agency were informed about the suspicious practices. According to him, these are various investigations that affect both the health fund and the National Social Security Institute.
The minister did not specify specific medicines, companies or the amount of damage in the current inspections. At the moment, no specific defendants have been publicly announced in the new investigations.
Previous operation for fictitious sales
The announcement comes after a previously revealed operation by the National Agency for National Security and the Ministry of Interior, related to fictitious sales of expensive and life-sustaining medicines. At that time, pharmacies and warehouses were checked for data on export or re-export to European Union countries.
The Interior Ministry announced that under this scheme, the drugs were prescribed, but did not reach the patients, but accumulated in the warehouse network and were subsequently resold abroad. The operation involved employees of the State Agency for National Security, the Ministry of Interior, the Executive Agency for Medicines and the National Health Insurance Fund. At that time, the Deputy Director of the Main Directorate of the “National Police“ Stoyno Tsvetkov stated that possible actions of medical personnel who issued the prescriptions were also being checked.
Sources: bntnews.bg, nova.bg