With inflation, with the raising of the minimum wage, insurance and pensions in our country, medical services are expected to be affected as well. Up to 60 percent more expensive are examinations by specialists. Fees for laboratory tests have also increased, as well as surcharges for various consumables during operations, NovaNews reports.
In Burgas, the prices for a primary examination by specialists in medical institutions start from BGN 50 and go up to BGN 120, when a doctor from Sofia or Turkey, for example, visits the hospital. Examination with equipment such as Doppler, cardiogram and echocardiogram cost between BGN 80-120.
In a private clinic in Burgas, the prices have still remained as they were last year, but with inflation, the owner will be forced to increase the services.
"We gradually upload a little bit, we try not to push people away. It is very important that we have contracts with many jeeps where we serve patients without charging an examination fee. But for the qualified persons who also come here, the prices are higher - BGN 100-120," said Spasimir Ivanov.
Nearly 60%, however, is the increase in the prices of medical equipment, consumables, salary fund, insurance, medicines and transport. Almost all private hospitals on the Black Sea coast have contracts with the Health Insurance Fund and accept referrals from private physicians. And taking a referral is easy - it is already done electronically and even by phone.
"When a person is more negligent and does not take a referral, he will have to pay for himself", added Ivanov.
Even with a referral from a personal physician for a nuclear magnetic resonance, not only do you have to wait for months, but you also have to pay extra in the state hospital. To make it a little cheaper, patients queue for hours for a referral.
If additional tests are ordered, they are paid for separately. Complete blood count, tests for metabolic syndrome - sugar, cholesterol, and vitamins - the price in a laboratory can reach 120 BGN. More complex examinations, such as colonoscopy, cost BGN 450.
Among the services that have become more expensive are those in choosing a team for the maternity ward or examinations in private eye clinics, where prices start at BGN 200. If the examination is approved by the Health Insurance Fund for a pensioner, then laser correction of the eye or inserting a lens, for example, costs a minimum of 1,600 and 2,000 BGN.
Dr. Spasimir Ivanov is adamant that Bulgaria has qualified specialists, high-level equipment - such as is available abroad, and adequate treatment can be carried out in our country.
On the eve of the summer season, more than 15 private clinics will open in Sunny Beach. Only a few of them work in medical fields, but even with them, the new prices are expected to be higher than those in private clinics in Burgas.
"The fee has a limiting effect due to the fact that people will consider the price and thus refine their needs and, respectively, the visits to the doctor. It has a stopping effect on minor complaints and conditions of the patients," says personal physician Emil Nikolov.