The Association for the Development of Bulgarian Healthcare (ADBH) announced on Friday that it plans to submit a complaint on Monday to the Commission for Protection against Discrimination. The complaint targets the Bulgarian Medical Association and the National Health Insurance Fund regarding their refusal to incorporate funding for biomarker diagnostics into the National Framework Contract. Biomarkers are essential in determining the sensitivity of specific cancers or metastases to particular medications.
According to the association, without this diagnostic testing, patients are limited to older, basic therapies that can be poorly tolerated and less effective. The ADBH highlighted that Bulgaria is currently the only country in the European Union where patients must finance biomarker testing themselves, with associated costs ranging between EUR 500 and EUR 2,500. In its formal complaint, the association seeks a finding of discrimination against cancer patients and requests that state authorities be mandated to rectify the situation.
The patient organization is urging individuals who have personally paid for biomarker testing to contact the association so that their cases can be incorporated into future actions aimed at protecting patient rights, including seeking compensation for damages. Funding for biomarker diagnostics had initially been allocated within the National Health Insurance Fund’s 2026 budget. However, during the second reading process, an amendment was adopted that reallocated these funds, moving them from the medical services budget line to the medical devices budget line.
The ADBH views this bureaucratic action as contributing to the ongoing issue of discrimination faced by cancer patients requiring vital biomarker testing.
Topics: #association #discrimination #biomarker
