Referrals will not be necessary for preventive routine examinations starting 2016

Employees are granted one day paid leave every year to undergo preventive medical examinations. The Health Minister Petar Moskov has already held talks with his colleague Ivaylo Kalfin to allow such a change to the Labour Code. This practice exists in all civilized countries like Germany and Sweden, for example. Moskov defended the idea by stating he did not see that Bulgarians were any worse in order to take advantage of such a convenience.

The fine for missing a checkup is BGN 50. However, not a single citizen has been sanctioned.

Starting 2016, when a people went to check their health condition they would not even need a referral from their GP, as every person with healthcare coverage would have an electronic health card. It would hold information about the package of examinations which they were entitled to, Moskov said.

According to him, the division of health services into a basic and additional package would not deprive people of healthcare. The basic package would include all diseases that progress rapidly and could not be put on hold, while the additional package – the ones that could wait, such as cataracts. However, if a person wanted to remove a cataract immediately, they would have to be covered by an additional health insurance fund as well.