[size=75:aeutytst]Sofia echo 9 March 2010
Family doctors in Sofia go on strike
Family doctors are on their second day of protests, with colleagues in Sofia, Pazardjik, Haskovo, Turgovishte, Yambol, Shoumen, Razgrad and Dobrich staging walkouts on March 9, Bulgarian media reported.
Patients in need of medical assistance can visit emergency wards instead. Those who decide to use the services of a GP during the strike will have to pay in cash, the report said.
Doctors say they have not been paid by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) for January 2010, and demand to be compensated for price changes for medication in the last quarter of 2009.
Doctors in Kyustendil went on strike on March 8.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov met Tsvetan Raichinov, head of the Bulgarian doctor's union on March 8, and according to media reports, it was agreed that by March 10 all the funds owed to doctors, dentists, clinics and hospitals will be paid.
However, the NHIF later released a statement saying that the money would be wired by the end of the week.