Price gap up to 12 times for medicines: Health economist Sharkov points to the culprit

The difference in the prices of medicinal products in healthcare facilities can reach up to 12 times, warns health economist Arkadi Sharkov. According to him, the main reason for this price imbalance is the transition to the system of centralized electronic tenders introduced last year.

In a conversation with "Bulgaria ON AIR", Sharkov explained that before the regulatory change, the weighted average price rule was applied. This system successfully minimized price differences, but the new procedure with bidding participants has brought significant market distortions.

The economist expressed skepticism regarding proposals to introduce mandatory public procurement (PP) for private hospitals. According to him, since private structures are not subsidized by the state budget, attempts to directly manage their purchases through PP would be "interference in private business".

"It is the wrong approach to bring even more healthcare facilities into the corruption mechanism of public procurement. The managers will multiply the problem by 100," Sharkov stated, emphasizing the risk of additional distortions in the sector.

As an alternative to administrative control, the economist focused on digitalization. He pointed out that the implementation of the "E-health" system is key to tracking the patient and their treatment, ensuring transparency through digital remote control.