site.btaState Budget Bill Result of Consensus Between Employers, Trade Unions, Says Health Committee Chair

The proposed 2026 State Budget Bill is the result of a consensus reached between employers and trade unions, Chair of the Parliamentary Health Committee Kostadin Angelov (GERB–UDF) told journalists on Tuesday.

Angelov commented on the revised draft budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) for 2026 and on the healthcare professionals’ protests, set to begin on December 10, over the absence of funding to ensure minimum starting salaries of EUR 1,550 for nurses and other healthcare professionals. 

“We want to address all healthcare professionals and nurses who plan to protest tomorrow [Wednesday]. Your pay will be increased using EUR 100 million redirected from European programmes. This money will go to all nurses, midwives and healthcare workers in Bulgaria’s healthcare system, both in hospitals and in outpatient care,” Angelov said.

He quoted data from the register of the Bulgarian Association of Healthcare Professionals, which shows that Bulgaria has nearly 30,000 nurses and about 6,000 medical specialty trainees.

The first version of the NHIF Budget Bill included a EUR 260 million transfer from the central government budget for the salaries of medical staff in healthcare facilities. In the current version, funding for young doctors amounts to EUR 60 million and is included in the Health Ministry’s budget, allocated through an alternative mechanism.

Angelov said that the increase in the prices of clinical pathways, expected to be around 10%, will be channelled mainly into wages. He noted that the previous budget, which provided EUR 260 million for pay rises in medical establishments, failed to secure support from the NHIF Supervisory Board. “It received only five votes in favour, I would say with great difficulty,” Angelov said. The current NHIF Budget Bill was backed by a majority in the Supervisory Board and in the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, he added.

“When those EUR 260 million were included in the NHIF budget, nobody supported them. At the meeting we held at the Finance Ministry, employers and trade unions publicly said that this was wrong and would break the healthcare system. All hospital associations said the same, and the protesting young doctors themselves did not approve of the mechanism for distributing the funds through the NHIF budget,” Angelov said.

“These funds have not disappeared. The Health Ministry has allocated EUR 30 million to launch a programme for young doctors, including medical specialty trainees,” he said. Asked if this amount would be sufficient, Angelov recalled the words of Continue the Change Chair Assen Vassilev, who had said that EUR 60 million would be needed to raise the wages of young doctors.

The Health Ministry has earmarked a further EUR 30 million for income policy across all its subordinate units. In addition, young doctors and medical specialty trainees are financed with nearly EUR 30 million through national and other programmes supporting specialization, Angelov said.

Regional and municipal hospitals will receive another EUR 60 million through a different mechanism specifically for income policy measures, the Health Committee Chair said. “Through the NHIF system, medical establishments will receive nearly EUR 500 million more due to the increase in clinical pathway prices, which will also support wage growth,” he noted. Employers and trade unions firmly opposed the inclusion of fixed wage levels in the budget and insisted that pay should be determined through collective bargaining, in line with the European directive, Angelov added. Earlier in the day, the meeting of the Parliamentary Health Committee was cancelled due to lack of quorum.