The Association for the Development of Bulgarian Healthcare (ADBH) announced on Friday that it will file a complaint with the Commission for Protection against Discrimination on Monday. The complaint targets the Bulgarian Medical Association and the National Health Insurance Fund regarding their refusal to integrate funding for biomarker diagnostics into the National Framework Contract. The association emphasized that these diagnostic tests are critical for determining the sensitivity of specific cancers or metastases to particular medications.
Without such testing, patients are limited to older treatments that can be poorly tolerated and may lack efficacy. Currently, Bulgaria stands as the sole country in the European Union where citizens must bear the full cost of this testing, with expenses reportedly ranging between EUR 500 and EUR 2,500. In its filing, the ADBH seeks a determination of discrimination against cancer patients and requests that state authorities be mandated to rectify the situation.
The patient organization has urged individuals who have paid for biomarker testing privately to contact the association so that their cases can be incorporated into future legal actions aimed at protecting patient rights, including pursuing compensation for damages. The underlying financial issue stems from the 2026 budget, where funds designated for biomarker diagnostics were allocated but subsequently moved from the medical services budget line to the medical devices budget line during the second reading.
Topics: #association #discrimination #biomarker
