The Health Committee adopted the NHIF budget at an extraordinary meeting

The Parliamentary Health Committee adopted the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) at an extraordinary meeting held during a recess in the plenary work of the National Assembly. It should be noted that the committee was convened as early as Tuesday, but the meeting did not take place at that time due to a lack of quorum. Consequently, the draft budget of the Health Insurance Fund was approved only by the Committee on Budget and Finance and was included in the parliamentary agenda for a first reading, scheduled for today.

The extraordinary meeting was held at the insistence of the MPs from PP-DB. Member of Parliament Assoc. Prof. Vasil Pandov objected to the manner in which the meeting was convened. “In this way, it would have been better if the committee had not been convened at all. Neither professional nor patient organizations, nor other external guests are present. The committee must allow time for everyone directly involved in the topic to attend the debate,” he stated.

The Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Kostadin Angelov, pointed out that at the previous meeting, which failed due to a lack of quorum, all interested parties were present and submitted their opinions. “Now everyone has also been notified, and we are expecting representatives from the non-governmental sector as well,” he added. Nevertheless, the MPs decided to start the meeting without waiting for them, after which the Governor of the NHIF, Assoc. Prof. Petko Stefanovski, presented the institution’s draft budget for 2026.

The bill was adopted without debate – with 11 votes “for” and 9 “against.”

Without discussion, and with the same result of 11 “for” and 9 “against,” the state budget bill presented by the Minister of Health, Assoc. Prof. Silvi Kirilov, was also approved.