The newly elected Governor of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) Dr. Rumyana Todorova said she would start her mandate with an inspection of the financial condition of the institution. She will look into where the money flows, focusing on the drug policy, payments to hospitals for clinical paths and as well as the shortage of options for prescribing clinical pathways and specialist examinations by general practitioners.
Some diagnoses cause excess of medication usage and we need to know whether it is due only to the introduced new products, or there is something else. We want to know what happens in hospitals and regional health organizations, said from the parliamentary tribune Mrs. Todorova. In her words, her predecessor Dr. Plamen Tsekov assured everybody that the money will be enough by the end of 2013, but did not indicate whether that the additional 17 million levs spent on medications was paid from the reserve of the healthcare ministry or from its budget for the last quarter. The end of August will see the start of negotiations with the Bulgarian Medical Association under the new National Framework Agreement, but until then, clarity is required on what financial basis this will step on. For this purpose Todorova will require information from the National Revenue Agency over the collection of health insurance premiums and the number of uninsured Bulgarians.
Another priority of the new manager will be the de-monopolization of the fund, as in recent years a total of 1.5 million levs on healthcare has been spent by the government of Boyko Borissov in other ways. Todorova pointed out that the site of the institution shows the fundrquote s budget for 2013, which is not a balanced one, and this will become evident within ten days. Problematic is the reserve of 260 million levs that, according to some experts, has been redistributed in advance
with the rising prices of some health services and new activities transferred from the Ministry of Healthcare.
A day before her appointment to office, Mrs. Todorova presented to the respective committee in Parliament, two sets of stabilization measures – emergency one and long-term ones. The pressing measures include an in-depth financial analysis, control within the system and joint action with the Ministry of Finance and Revenue Agency. Numerous calls for new directors of regional health insurance funds are forthcoming, as the deadline for submission of documents has passed. A director who works well, will not be replaced, promised Todorova.
Her long-term objectives are to initiate dialogue with all who stand on the other side of the barrier, support local hospitals and provide incentives to open pharmacies in small and remote towns.
But whether Dr. R. Todorova will manage the health insurance fund is not entirely sure. The Constitutional Court started proceedings regarding the decision of the National Assembly on July 4, which terminated the mandate of the former Governor of NHIF Dr. Plamen Cekov. The complaint was submitted by MPs Krasimir Tzipov and Desislava Atanasova from GERB and was signed by 51 party members. According to them, the texts in the Health Insurance Act, regulating the early termination of a mandate in the health insurance sector do not justify the early dismissal of Mr. Tsekov. By law, a dismissal of the NHIF Governor may take place after a final court judgment for willful violation of a general nature, a state of a conflict of interest, or due to systematic violation of his/her duties, inability to perform for a period longer than three months, death or submission of resignation. No such circumstances have been established in the case with Mr. Tsekov.
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