The Bulgarian Hospital Association and the National Association of Private Hospitals sent an open letter to the media, in which they express their categorical disagreement with the mechanisms provided in the Draft Budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) for 2026 for targeted funding of the salaries of doctors and healthcare specialists.
According to the letter, the proposed approach is an unjustified deviation from the current model of financing hospital care in Bulgaria. The hospital organizations point out that the “money follows the patient” model is built on the principle of payment for actually performed medical activities, which is transparent and subject to control. They believe that directing funds solely for salaries, without a link to the work performed, undermines this model, weakens incentives for efficiency, and threatens the long-term sustainability of the system.
The organizations also express concern about the proposals made between the first and second readings of the draft law, which provide for the targeted funds to be directed only to state and municipal hospitals and to emergency care. This, according to them, creates inequality between medical specialists in different types of structures. They emphasize that the legal form of ownership cannot be a criterion for access to public resources.
The Bulgarian Hospital Association and the National Association of Private Hospitals call on the members of parliament to reconsider the texts and to refrain from decisions that violate the regulatory framework and weaken the role of social dialogue. As an alternative, they propose that the state provide scholarships for newly graduated doctors and healthcare specialists.