SEMINAR-DISCUSSION ON THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR NGOS TO DELIVER HEALTH SERVICES

On May 20, 2003 in Rila Hotel in Sofia the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law in cooperation with the Institute for Integration Studies and with the kind support of the Open Society Foundation and the United State Agency for International Development (USAID) organized a seminar – discussion on the opportunities for NGOs to deliver health services. Members of Parliament, experts from the Parliament, representatives of the Ministry of Healthcare as well as representatives of NGOs which activity is connected with provision of social and healthcare services were presented at the event.

The seminar started with the presentation of an analysis “Legal Arrangements on 0Healthcare Institutions in Bulgaria, the European Union and the United States: Capacity of the Public Benefit NGOs to Deliver Health Services”.
The main conclusion made in the analysis was that the legal frames of the greater part of the Western European countries and US explicitly allow NGOs to engage in activities connected with provision of different range of social and medical services.

After that a research “Economic Impact of the Creation of Healthcare Institutions in the Form of Public Benefit NGOs” was presented. The conclusion made at the end of the research pointed out that giving the legal opportunity NGOs to establish healthcare institutions would not have a negative impact on consolidated state budget. On the contrary, additional positive effects as decrease of unemployment in the sector, possibility for further attraction of funds and a big social impact could be expected.

After a short discussion, the participants were presented with the draft of the suggestions for amendments and supplements to the Law on the Healthcare Institutions. They provide for the legal opportunity for healthcare institutions to be registered in the form of non-profit legal entities designated for performing activity in public benefit and registered in the Central registry at the Ministry of Justice. According to the presently acting legislation, healthcare institutions could be established only by commercial entities registered under the Commercial Law and cooperatives registered under the Law on Cooperatives.
During the discussion, the NGO representatives described the great obstacles they meet in their activity because of the legal ban for their organizations to provide medical services which situates them in an unequal position compared to the commercial legal entities. The representatives of Caritas – Bulgaria, for instance, shared the problems their local centers for provision of free social and medical services to socially disadvantaged people have, on the behalf of the regional centers for healthcare and the local healthcare institutions, as well as the willingness of the donors for granting funds for such activity to NGOs rather than companies.

All participants from the NGO sector expressed their real satisfaction from the idea of creation of legal basis for NGOs to register healthcare institutions and their eagerness the amendments to the law to be adopted as soon as possible.
The representatives of the state institutions expressed their strong support for the suggested amendments and supplements to the Law on the Healthcare Institutions.