Bulgaria's NHIF Ended 2018 with a Surplus of BGN 14 Million

The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) ended 2018 with a surplus of BGN 14 million, the shorthand from the first meeting of the Supervisory Board reveals. The reason is that in the last days of the year more than planned health insurance has been collected and so 14 million leva have been left unused, which are returned back to the state budget, reports Mediapool. 

The positive outcome comes after a year of heavy restraints and austerity so the cashier can fit into its budget, which departed with a deficit in drug spending and a scandal about its debts abroad.

For a consecutive year, NHIF's budget is showing an underestimated income from health insurance, which saves it at the end of the year. For the year 2018 the over-performance is 78 million BGN, of which BGN 67 million is health insurance income.

"Thanks to this, we have no overdue obligations for the next year for medical activities. For health insurance payments, BGN 189 million have been utilized in addition to those planned in the NHIF Budget Law, of which nearly BGN 70 million are from over-performance of revenues, compensated changes in costs and transfers and a redeployed reserve of BGN 114 million. The biggest increase is the cost of medicines compared to the planned funds in the Budget Law (BGN 130 million) and the costs of hospital medical care (BGN 57 million) ", explains the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board Jeni Nacheva.

Nacheva also explains that the surplus of BGN 14 million will not be spent by the NHIF, but recalls that a budget deficit of BGN 50 million is planned in the budget for 2019, which will be financed precisely with the money from the previous remnants years on the cash accounts of the BNB.

The surplus of BGN 14 million could be used in 2020, it...