site.btaPay Demands of Young Medics Will Be Met, Says Parliamentary Health Committee Chair

The demands of young medics regarding pay levels will be met, Parliamentary Health Committee Chair Kostadin Angelov (GERB-UDF) said on Wednesday during a Committee sitting reviewing the second reading of amendments to the Healthcare Establishments Act.

“Joint Governance Council has decided that the demands of young medics regarding pay levels will be met. We have found budgetary possibilities to make this happen,” Angelov said.

He added that the agreed solution is not included in any of the three draft bills under discussion. Instead, the pay levels will be specified in the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) Budget Act. “We will not support any of the proposed texts at second reading. The Coalition decision is different and will be reflected in the NHIF Budget Act,” Angelov said.

“I have always supported young medics. I have encouraged them, and I continue to stand by them,” he said. According to him, increasing medics’ salaries would have a “snowball effect”, and attention should also be paid to non-medical professionals such as physicists, chemists, radiobiologists and engineers.

Hassan Ademov from the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms parliamentary group expressed his support for finding a solution. He asked whether, by returning to the practice of fixed pay scales, the Government would set specific wage levels or continue to rely on collective bargaining. Angelov replied that the focus in their draft law remains on the collective labour agreement.

On October 15, young medics held a protest in front of the Ministry of Health demanding that the starting salary for physicians without a specialization be set at 150% of the national average wage. They also called for higher pay for night shifts and additional qualifications, as well as greater transparency in the allocation of medical specializations.