The new governor of the National Health Insurance Fund Dr. Plamen Tsekov decided to prove that the institution led by him turns to transparency. The dark times during the period in office of Dr. Nelly Nesheva when the method of distribution of money among hospitals was guarded as a secret caused quite reasonable doubt in the public that almost BGN1.2 billion was allocated under the influence of powerful lobbies. Now with one stroke Tsekov tried to cut the knot and the page with the hospital’s final budgets appeared on the NHIF page budgets of hospitals for 2012 and their expenditures for the previous year.
Undoubtedly this is a step forward and allows closer monitoring of the money on health insurance. Because, as taxpayers we have the right to know whether our personal funds support the survival and development of important clinics or sink in someone’s deep pockets. On the other hand, health insurance finally gave indications that it is able to listen to other opinions and to follow advice. After publishing the budget estimates, there were protests that the game lacks fair play and some clinics (both in the public and private sector) receive money thay are not in fact entitled to get. This time, the management of NHIF intervened appropriately and following meetings with directors of regional banks, hospital managers and representatives of doctors, it analyzed the initial estimates and corrected them, within the existing financial framework.
What is worth mentioning in the final (for now) version of the annual estimated budgets? The budgets for 2012 are severely reduced for some of the major institutions in the hospital. To this end, St. Anna, better known as Okrazhna Bolnitsa will take nearly BGN4 million less, instead of the original BGN28.12 million. Last year St. Anna absorbed nearly BGN29.37 million which in practice means that the actual deficit the hospital management must address exceeds BGN5 million. Another example of the game with numbers is Pirogov emergency hospital. It was initially to get BGN45.5 million but according to the final version of the budget plan Pirogov will take BGN38.1 million and will be missing about BGN5.5 million lev in comparison with 2011.
Military Medical Academy negotiated at the beginning almost BGN26 million, which melted to BGN22.82 million. St. Ivan Rilski Hospital on its turn will not be able to spend BGN10.7 million, as it will have only BGN9.93 million. The most seriously would be truncated the budget of St. Catherine, which originally was passed at BGN28 million per year and is now sliced to BGN22.82 million. The last three clinics will spend a total of almost BGN13 million less than a year earlier. Quite reasonably the money on Plovdiv University Hospital St. George has been cut by BGN6 million, but even now they exceed BGN62 million.
Clinics that were considered close to members of the ruling GERB party and were supposedly getting higher budgets seem now to have been made equal to other hospitals. Lom Hospital St. Nikolai, previously led by the current Director of the Health Insurance Fund Dr. Tsekov, instead of getting BGN6.8 million will receive by BGN800,000 less. Rousse Hospital, months ago managed by recently appointed Deputy Health Minister, Dr. Mincho Vichev, will have work with a final budget of BGN16.9 million, instead of the initially estimated BGN18.2 million. The hospital in Dulovo, where health minister Desislava Atanasova was born, will also get by BGN300,000 less.
Much of the trimmed sums will flow from the capital to the country. Among the favoured hospitals now turned out to be the Pleven University Hospital Dr. G. Stranski with BGN26.5 million annual budget, as well as those in Burgas and Dobrich.
Partially some inequalities on a regional basis that existed for years have also been corrected. For the regional healthcare fund in the small town of Pazardjik, paradoxically was previously approved an annual sum of BGN42 million, as much as was to go to the regional centers such as Burgas and Stara Zagora. This amount was not brought down to BGN37.4 million. From the whole operation the ones whop won were Burgas, Vratsa, Stara Zagora, Veliko Tarnovo, Rousse, Haskovo and Shumen. Hospitals there will be able to count on a total of over BGN211 million, or by almost BGN14 million more than what was allotted for them in 2011.
