Bulgaria pushes health reform with unified drug pricing and parliamentary debate

Parliamentary deputies from the Progressive Bulgaria party have introduced amendments to the Public Procurement Law and the Drug Products Law that would require every hospital – public or private – contracting with the National Health Insurance Fund to conduct centralized tenders for medicines. The aim is to end the practice of the same drug being bought at vastly different prices, a situation deputy Georgi Iliev described: “We see the same drug costing €50 in one hospital and ten times more in another.”

The Bulgarian Medical Union (BLS) has called for an expert round‑table debate on the proposed changes, stressing that reforms must be based on thorough analysis, financial justification and impact assessment. The union warned against “populist legislative initiatives” and urged the Ministry of Health to organize a professional discussion to ensure transparency, control of public funds and effective treatment for patients.