Bulgarian healthcare experts oppose dissolution of drug pricing Council

Experts, physicians, and patient organizations in Bulgaria are warning against a proposal by the Ministry of Health to dissolve the National Council on Prices and Reimbursement of Medicinal Products (NSCRLP). The plan involves transferring the Council's functions directly to the Ministry, a move critics argue could lead to administrative collapse and delayed access to essential therapies.

Concerns center on the Council's high volume of work; in 2025, it handled 6,684 procedures, including price changes and the inclusion of new drugs in the Positive Drug List. Experts, including representatives from the Bulgarian Association for Pharmacoeconomics (ISPOR Bulgaria Chapter), question whether the Ministry possesses the administrative capacity to manage such complex tasks, such as health technology assessments and pharmacotherapeutic guidelines.

Critics argue that centralizing these decisions within the Ministry could return the system to a pre-2013 bureaucratic model, where political leadership might delay critical decisions. Medical professionals, such as oncologist Dr. Marcela Koleva, have warned that delays in processing innovative treatments could directly impact patient survival rates.