Health insurance contributions to rise by three percentage points from July 1
28 02 08 - 12:03
Bulgaria's Cabinet will raise mandatory health insurance contributions by three percentage points starting July 1 this year, Health Minister Radoslav Gaidarski told a conference on February 27 2008.
The hike would allow to generate the financial resources necessary to launch new health insurance funds starting 2009, when the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) loses its monopoly for such services, the minister said during the conference, entitled The Crisis – A Year Later: Bulgarians – the European Patient in a Sick Health Insurance Sector, Dnevnik daily reported on February 27.
Gaidarski outlined two scenarios for breaking the monopoly of the NHIF. One option would see private health insurance funds pocket the additional three per cent and the proceeds would be used to pay for treatment that is not covered by NHIF.
According to the second scenario, the private health insurance funds and the NHIF would compete with each other for customers, who would have the right to choose whom to entrust their entire health insurance contributions, which will amount to nine per cent of gross salaries starting from July.
The cabinet was already discussing the issue and was due to come reach a decision on the liberalisation of the health insurance services, with a view to allow private health insurance funds onto the market, by March 15. Plans are to set a minimum number of insured persons for any fund willing to operate on the market of supplementary mandatory health insurance.
Meanwhile, the Military Academy was the first hospital to announce plans to set up its own health insurance fund. It would start operations in early-2009, the head of the hospital, General Stoian Tonev told Dnevnik daily on February 26.
Fund-raising would start on June 1 and all military personnel and their families, as well as civilians willing to undergo treatment at the hospital, were eligible to join the fund, the general said. More than 100 000 people are expected to join the fund.