Parliament to Vote Removal of Moratorium on Innovative Medicines

The parliamentary group of GERB, the majority partner in Bulgaria’s coalition government, will propose a removal of the moratorium on reimbursement of innovative medication and new therapies by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

The proposal for the urgent change comes a week after the Parliament rejected the presidential veto on the moratorium and amid discontent by patients’ organisations.

GERB say they propose to drop the moratorium in order to stop allegations that Bulgarian patients with oncological illnesses will be left without treatment and medicines.

The proposal will be made Wednesday at a meeting of the leaders of the political groups in Parliament, said GERB floor leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov in a statement circulated by the party press office.

The government's plan for innovative medicines was to be approved by special commissions within the health ministry. On 19^th of December, opposition BSP leader Kornelia Ninova announced that she had spoken with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov with the insistence that the moratorium would be dropped and that the new medicines would be funded by the health insurance fund. Later, the BSP announced that they had submitted the proposal to Parliament's regisrty.

The moratorium was put in place through the NHIF budget for 2018. Following discontent by patient organizations and the medical community, it was vetoed by the President but Parliament rejected it. Last week, the Prime Minister, indicated that he was willing to reconsider the moratorium.