The Reform Union Club And The New Bulgarian University (NBU) Organised A Round Table On The Topic “Current Trends in European Healthcare”
May 20th, 2015, Wednesday
On 20 May 2015, the Reform Union Club and the New Bulgarian University (NBU) organised a round table as part of the Sofia Business School on the topic “Current Trends in European Healthcare”. The special guest at the event was Mr. Frederik Roeder – a leading German healthcare management consultant with serious experience in the restructuring of the healthcare systems in the countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Eastern Asia, in the introduction of know-how and new policies, and in the reformation of medical services following the German good practices model. Representatives of the Ministry of Health, the academic community, the medical profession, the pharmaceutical industry, patient organisations, students and journalists took part in the discussion. Mr. Roeder shared with the participants his views on the development of an efficient healthcare system which would function in current conditions in the EU, especially in the countries of Eastern Europe, noting the need for reforms and the financial restrictions in the region. As an example, he cited Georgia, where according to him one of the most radical healthcare reforms in the world is being implemented, moreover just within a couple of years. Before the reforms began to be implemented, the WHO had rated the Georgian healthcare system among the worst in the world. The Minister of Economy, Kakha Bendukidze, decided to abolish the dysfunctional Soviet system. Government health insurance has been replaced by insurance vouchers for the poor and elderly, which cover the purchase price of a basic benefit package from a private health insurance company. Private health insurance companies compete for these patients and the remaining population who can either purchase insurance or can remain uninsured. This total restart of the system has created positive results for the patients. Health indicators such as infant mortality and life expectancy have risen dramatically. Informal payments have gone down from 40% of the country’s health expenditures to below 5%. Mr. Roeder listed corruption and informal payments among the most burdening problems in government-funded healthcare systems. When healthcare is “free”, there is no price mechanism to distribute the funds in a positive way and to ensure a good correlation between demand and supply.