Bulgaria’s Parliament Accepted the Resignation of NHIF Head

The Bulgarian Parliament voted on 5 July to approve the resignation of the manager of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), Dr. Glinka Komitov.

88 MPs voted to support the resignation, no MP voted against and 67 MPs abstained.

Komitov submitted his resignation on 29 June. He did not present any motives for the decision.

Hassan Ademov of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms group said he had suspicions about why the NHIF manager resigned and they are prompted by the tensions in the healthcare system. When there is such a tension, most often the manager is to blame, he explained. The chair of the ommittee for labour, social and demographic policy asked for changes to the powers of the manager of the NHIF and the way of financing the system. If this in not done, every next NHIF manager would be “hostage” and will resign, for whatever reason, Ademov warned.

Ivan Ibrishimov from the opposition Bulgarina Socialist Party said that the NHIF managed over BGN 3 billion of public resources and that such a sudden resignation caused worries. "Reactive rather than constructive is the government's health policy," his colleague Ilian Timchev added.