BULGARIA'S SUPREME ADMINISTRATIVE COURT RULED TO CANCEL FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION AT HOSPITALS

The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) overturned the text, which introduced fingerprint identification at admission in and discharge from hospitals in Bulgaria, "Capital" media announced on 28th of March.

In November 2016, the three-member panel of SAC ruled as void the wording in the regulation for access to medical care, according to which fingerprint of each patient was scanned in the interest of control over the activities of the hospitals. The reason for SAC’s ruling was that fingerprint identification was not mentioned in any law, and the Health Insurance Fund and the Health Ministry in practice “overwrote” the Health Insurance Act.

Furthermore, the text on the fingerprint identification contradicts European legislation because there is not a single EU member-state where citizens are required to mandatory identify themselves when they need medical treatment.

Thus Bulgaria may complicate the cross-border legitimizing, as it had not even warned the other member states. This, in turn, contradicts the ЕU legislation, which aims to unify the type of identification in view of travel, security and medical assistance in the EU countries, the court said.

The five-member panel of the SAC upheld the decision of the three-member panel.

After the court’s decision gets promulgated in the next few days, the hospitals in Bulgaria will no longer require fingerprint identification.Anyway, the text for it does not appear in the new National Framework Agreement of the Bulgarian Health Insurance Fund and the doctors' union. The agreement will come into force on 1st of April.