Bulgaria constitutional court declared legislative amendment, as part of health sector reform, anti-constitutional

03/10/16 06:13
(http://www.klassa.bg/)

Bulgaria constitutional court declared legislative amendment, as part of health sector reform, anti-constitutional

At a decision under constitutional case No 6/2015, initiated at the request of 61 MPs with the 43rd National Assembly, the Bulgarian Constitutional Court declared anti-constitutional the regulation under Article 45, Paragraph 2 of the Health Insurance Act, which envisages for the heath package to be divided into a basic and additional one, as well as to be set with an order of the health minister, which to be revised once a year with a deadline until October 31.
The ruling has been published on the official website of the ourt.
The decision was adopted with 11 votes, against one 1. The amendment that sets the services paid by the National Health Insurance Fund to basic and additional package was one of the major ideas of the healthcare minister for reform in the health sector.
The Constitutional Court rejects the text because the definition of the division of the packages is absolutely unclear, which is unacceptable since it concerns the fundamental rights of the Bulgarian citizens.
The text in question, says as follows:
“Medical aid under Article 1, except for item 11, 12 and 15, is considered a package guaranteed by the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund. The package can be basic and additional and it is determined by the minister of health, being revised once a year, with a deadline until October 31 of the corresponding year.”
Court’s ruling was followed by a storm of reactions, both on behalf of the opposition, which required health minister Moskov to hand in his resignation, and of the ruling, which expressed support to him.
“No problem for the health system and the patients derives from the ruling of the Constitutional Court,” Bulgarian Health Minister Petar Moskov said speaking with journalists.
“The court’s rulings are not a subject for discussion, they have to be observed. What I may discuss is the idea and the goals of the division of the packages under the Health Act. This is and continues to be a needed legal step – the needed legislative move needed to guarantee before the Bulgarian citizens that the National Health Insurance Fund will pay for their adequate treatment without having to pay extra money,” Minister Moskov explained.
“In other words, to guarantee that if you are properly health insured, you will get the needed amount of medical treatment for free, no matter whether you can afford paying for the treatment that the Fund is not paying for. This is the idea of the decision of the packages and from this point of view it is not a problem, it is not a subject of court’s ruling,” the minister added.
“We will observe the motives of the Constitutional Court. We will amend the texts and file them as amendments to the Health Act again,” Petar Moskov said.
“I tell what are the philosophy and the goals of the Ministry of Health, while the Court does not interpret intentions and goals but concrete texts. We will get acquainted with the motives of the Constitutional Court, which will be published tomorrow, and we will change the texts considered not precise enough,” the minister explained.
“Naturally, I continue supporting Health Minister Petar Moskov and as always I would not comment on the rulings of the Constitutional Court,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said on the issue.
“We will conform with the text and the motives of the Court and there will be a correction,” Boyko Borisov remarked.
Commenting further on opposition’s request for Minister Moskov to hand in his resignation, the Prime Minister said “they will have another thing coming”.
Mr Borisov said that Mr Moskov assured him that all irregularities would be corrected.
“We met earlier. We talked. He said there was nothing concerning,” the Prime Minister remarked.
The opposition was not so positive, however.
“Health Minister Petar Moskov should pack up his things and push off. Someone else should come and do what the mandate-holder Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (CEDB) is supposed to do in the healthcare sector,” said Mihail Mikov, Chairperson of the parliamentary group of the BSP Left Bulgaria and Chairperson of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).
“In the end, it was well clear that this text is against the Constitution,” the politician remarked.
In his words, many things need to be done in the healthcare sector so as to render it more accessible for the citizens.
“Our parliamentary group will probably file proposals for amendments to the health insurance act but after the Constitutional Court finalises the second case, too,” Mihail Mikov said.
“Since major elements of his reforms are rejected by the Constitutional Court and since the 2016 National Framework Agreement will not be inked, Minister of Health Petar Moskov should be so kind as to hand in his resignation,” said Dr Hasan Ademov, MP with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF).
“Over the past years, the MRF, along with our colleagues with the BSP Left Bulgaria, has been warning that what the minister of health is doing is a great challenge for the Bulgarian healthcare because in the end the decisions he personally proposed lead to legal chaos. They restrict Bulgarian citizens’ access to healthcare,” Dr Ademov remarked.
“The fact that the Supreme Court of Cassations rejected the methods used for the elaboration of the health cards and now the Constitutional Court rejected the two major packages, it proves that what we have been warning about is right. Unfortunately, Mr Moskov did not listen to our arguments and remarks,” the politician commented further.
In Hasan Ademov’s words, it is a matter of dignity for the health minister to hand in his resignation.

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