NHIF to change reimbursement rules for some medicines?

2010-03-03

The Bulgarian National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) is discussing the possibility of changing the reimbursement rules for medicines for Parkinson's disease, glaucoma and osteoporosis. The medicines, which are all reimbursed in full at present on the Positive List, should be 50% reimbursed by the NHIF in cases of glaucoma treatment and 25% in cases of osteoporosis and Parkinson’s disease. NHIF and Health Ministry experts announced that this change would be necessary because of the budget deficit, whereas Stanimir Hasurdjiev, the chairman of the National Patients’ Organisation, claimed that patients would not accept purely economic reasons for limiting their access to treatment.
As Central Europe Pharma News reported on a previous occasion, the Positive List was to have been revised by mid-2010 in order to bring about a reduction in NHIF spending on medicines whose prices exceed the required minimum and which are not reimbursed by Bulgaria’s reference countries.
In the first month of 2010, the NHIF spent BGN 30m (€15.3m) on drug reimbursement instead of the previously planned BGN 26m (€13.3m).