Doctors seek user fee hike after 13-year freeze

ByEnigma 808

The user fee in Bulgarian healthcare has not changed in over thirteen years, said Dr. Gergana Nikolova of the National Association of General Practitioners. The group proposes raising the fee from 2.90 to 3.90 leva by year’s end, then to roughly 5 leva in January 2026, equal to 0.5 percent of the minimum wage.

Nikolova stressed that doctors should not carry the state’s social responsibilities. When the government exempted chronically ill patients, pensioners, children, and pregnant women from the fee, it shifted costs onto physicians. She argued the state must cover those fees or let doctors deduct them as tax-deductible donations.

General practitioners run private practices with real business costs—rent, staff, equipment, software—not government salaries. Nikolova noted rising COVID-19 cases and urged flu vaccination now, especially since flu and COVID shots can be given together. She also advocated free flu vaccines for children and praised the new mandatory chickenpox vaccine, calling the disease dangerous and the vaccine a wise public health step.

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    Besides writing and being a content creator, Enigma 808 sometimes likes to watch paint dry on walls, listening to ASMR while timing snails racing. Such is life.