October 7 BTA) - The number of clinical pathways provided in Bulgaria in 2019 increased by 2.2 per cent compared with 2018, reaching 2,141,300, according to data from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). On Wednesday, Parliament adopted the annual reports of the NHIF for 2018 and 2019.

The BSP for Bulgaria parliamentary group said they will not back the reports. The MRF insisted that the implementation of the NHIF budgets should also be considered.

The reports say that in 2019 patients were highly satisfied with the availability of cutting-edge therapy for chronic diseases. Medication expenditures were increasing steadily due to expanding access to innovative medication therapies by including new international unpatented items on the list of medicinal products for the treatment of diseases covered by health insurance.

The availability of general practitioners in Bulgaria in 2018 was 1 GP for every 1,690 health-insured persons, the NHIF reported.

As at December 31, 2018 there were 368 in-patient treatment providers with contracts with the NHIF. These included 316 establishments for in-patient medical treatment, 39 establishments for specialized out-patient medical treatment and 13 dialysis centres. The largest number of clinical pathways in 2018 were agreed with the health insurance funds in Sofia and Plovdiv region.

A total of 13,246 contracts for out-patient medical and dental care were concluded in 2018, compared with 13,210 in 2017. NV/VE
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