A sum of exactly 600 million levs worth of budget funds is planned to be spent by the Government of Bulgaria by 2020 for the development of the health insurance model. This formulation de facto means that the government has committed to pay in full the health insurance contributions to those working for the state administration. So far, it has been the state budget that was the largest debtor to the healthcare fund. The previous Parliament had adopted amendments to the Law on Health Insurance, raising the contributions of children and students from 4 percent to 8 percent of the minimum insurance income. But those about 300 million levs a year did not enter the accounts of the insurance institution. Since the last update of the state pension system, the state „forgot“ to pay additional 40 million levs on their healthcare contributions. Now the promise is made, and full payment of those insurance sums by the state should be operational by 2015. It is obvious, even to the naked eye, however, that the money pledged will cover only a two-year period, unless the cashier finds a way to increase revenues.
Even more curious would be how the government will manage to introduce the diagnostic related groups in the hospitals after on this goal it intends to spend only 2.31 million levs. According to experts, the change of the financial model requires an initial investment of several billion levs. However, for the umpteenth time Bulgaria will try to introduce an eHealth system and now this will cost over 33 million levs. On further training of doctors and increasing the state-paid places for students and graduates in medicine at universities are planned almost 190 million levs. Hopefully, the state will find a way to keep these students in the country because otherwise their training will be an unbearable budget luxury.
Ensuring access for all to health care will cost to taxpayers nearly 300 million levs. Nearly half of the funds will go to programmes for home care for the elderly. Dialysis treatment and rehabilitation after serious chronic diseases are estimated to cost another 110 million levs. The sum of 30 million levs will be used to create high-tech units for diagnosis and treatment of major diseases causing high mortality in the country. It turns out that the programme for reduction of dental cavities in children in 2013 took 1.8 million levs, but the money has been spent, so in 2015 its new version is to appear.
At about 250 million levs have been evaluated the measures to improve disease prevention. Only three of the nine thematic programmes, however, have begun and for all of them it has been noted that the state lacks the necessary financial resources. For complex hospital care for children the country is waiting for about 48 million levs from the EU. Up to about 150 million levs should cost the programmes for early screening of cancer and socially significant diseases, but so far there is not enough money for them, either. It is absolutely incomprehensible why in order to ensure the health and safety of students and on health training and education in kindergartens and schools the state has set aside only 20,000 a year.
The BANKER
