Bulgaria’s government named a top official from the doctors’ union as its new health minister Thursday, just as the union was preparing to take to the streets to protest a lack of funding for hospitals.
Stefan Konstantinov, a 44-year-old gynaecologist, will replace Anna-Maria Borisova who quit after a disagreement with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov over how to handle an insurance fund crisis that has landed hospitals in debt. The appointment now has to be formally approved by parliament. Doctors in Bulgaria complain that the national health insurance fund has pushed hospitals into debt by delaying reimbursements.
Konstantinov’s union calculates the fund owes the hospitals about 163 million leva (82 million euros, 110 million dollars), leaving them short of medicines and only able to treat emergency cases. The union is planning nationwide protests for October 11, with a mass rally to be held in Sofia four days later.
Borisova, who was only appointed health minister in April, had proposed that patients pay 20 percent of the value of medical services they received. But the prime minister rejected the idea and Borisova handed in her resignation on Wednesday. The opposition socialists are preparing a motion of censure against the government because of its public health policy. Konstantinov will be the government’s third heath minister this year. Borisova’s predecessor Bozhidar Nanev resigned in April amid charges for wasting public funds.
Sofia, Sept 30, 2010 (AFP)
