Medical professionals' pay levels will be established in the 2026 NHIF budget.

GERB and their coalition partners will not support any of the proposed bills for amendments to the Medical Establishments Act, which provide for the determination of remuneration levels for medical specialists. This was announced by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Prof. Kostadin Angelov, at the beginning of today’s extraordinary meeting.

“We have decided at a coalition council that the demands presented by young doctors will be met. We have also found a way for this to happen – pay levels will be stipulated in the 2026 NHIF Budget Act. The demands of not only young doctors but of everyone working in the healthcare system will be satisfied. There will be no stipulated levels lower than those proposed in the bills,” Prof. Angelov emphasized.

The Ministry of Health presented indicative estimates of the funds required for the increase in medical specialists’ salaries.
According to Maria Belomorova, Director of the Budget and Finance Directorate at the Ministry of Health, the ministry has prepared three variants of financial estimates:

• Under the first variant, submitted by Vazrazhdane, 1.9 billion BGN are needed;
• Under the second, submitted by PP–DB, 1.7 billion BGN are needed;
• Under the third, submitted by GERB, BSP, and ITN, approximately 160 million BGN are needed.

Belomorova specified that the increase affects both young doctors and all other categories of specialists, and the change in basic remuneration also impacts gross salaries through derivative payments – seniority, night and overtime work, as well as social security contributions.

Prof. Angelov added that “when basic remuneration is increased, the overall effect on the costs of medical establishments must be taken into account.” According to him, municipal and regional hospitals have already expressed concerns that they could fall into financial impossibility if the most expensive legislative variants are adopted.

The opposition expressed doubts regarding the sustainability of the proposed solution. MP Assoc. Prof. Vasil Pandov from PP–DB pointed out that the NHIF Budget Act is a law with a one-year term of validity and asked how salary stability would be guaranteed in the event of a political change. “It is true that once increased, salaries are difficult to reduce, but it is not impossible. How will predictability be guaranteed?” he stated.

For his part, Georgi Georgiev from Vazrazhdane emphasized that the decision is not specific enough: “We have not seen exactly what the mechanism will be. Figures are being thrown around, but without guarantees. No one can assure us that it won’t change tomorrow,” he said.

Prof. Angelov replied that the texts will be specifically drafted during the preparation of the 2026 NHIF Budget Act, and the increases will be discussed jointly with hospital associations and representatives of young doctors. “The growth rate of the NHIF budget for 2026 compared to 2025 will be about 400 million BGN – sufficient to ensure a real increase in remuneration. When the draft budget enters the National Assembly, we will propose the necessary texts that will clearly regulate pay levels,” he assured.

MP Dr. Hasan Ademov from ASP supported the idea of finding a sustainable solution but raised the question of whether the new levels would be based on the Collective Labor Agreement or on staff salaries.

Prof. Angelov explained that several possible mechanisms are currently being discussed, including a variant where medical establishments that do not reach the specified pay levels will not be able to conclude a contract with the NHIF. “The demands have been calculated and will be met. The decision has been made,” he added.

In accordance with the preliminary agreement from the beginning of the meeting, the MPs rejected all submitted bills for amendments to the Medical Establishments Act on second reading.
Following the presentation of the 2026 NHIF draft budget, a working group will be formed to determine the specific remuneration levels by categories of medical personnel.