The Bulgarian National Assembly approved the bill on the 2018 budget of the National Health Insurance Fund for 2018 for the second time, thus rejecting the presidential veto imposed on the bill.

221 MPs cast their vote, 126 of them voting “for” the National Health Insurance Fund budget and 95 – “against”. The bill was first voted by parliament at the end of November and then returned by President Rumen Radev for further deliberation over the text introducing a temporary moratorium on the payment for new medicines. According to the president it gives rise to differential treatment of persons with medical insurance coverage, affecting a fundamental constitutional right - accessible medical assistance.