Patients' Organisations to File Discrimination Complaint Over Lack of Biomarker Diagnostics Funding

The Association for the Development of Bulgarian Healthcare (ADBH) will submit a complaint on Monday to the Commission for Protection against Discrimination against the Bulgarian Medical Association and the National Health Insurance Fund over their refusal to include a procedure for financing biomarker diagnostics in the National Framework Contract, the association announced on April 24.

Biomarkers are crucial in determining which medicines a particular type of cancer or metastasis is sensitive to. Without such testing, patients may receive only older standard therapies, which are often much harder to tolerate and less effective, the association said.

Bulgaria remains the only country in the European Union where this type of diagnostics is paid for by patients themselves. The cost of these tests ranges between €500 and €2,500.

In its complaint to the Commission for Protection against Discrimination, the association will request a finding of discrimination against cancer patients and that state authorities be ordered to put an end to it.

The patient organisation urged individuals who had paid for biomarker testing out of pocket to contact the association so their cases can be included in further actions to protect their rights, including seeking compensation for damages.

In May 2025, the institution of the Ombudsman referred the matter to the Minister of Health, the head of the National Health Insurance Fund and the chair of the Bulgarian Medical Association over the Health Insurance Fund’s failure to cover biomarker diagnostics, which are considered mandatory in modern oncology care.

In December, patient advocates highlighted serious gaps in access to biomarker diagnostics for cancer patients.

Although funding for biomarker diagnostics had been included in the 2026 budget law of the National Health Insurance Fund, an amendment adopted at second reading moved those funds from the budget line for medical services to that for medical devices.