Available Healthcare in Bulgaria

The rise in popularity of Bulgaria among holiday makers, holiday home seekers and even those looking for an attractive and affordable retirement location or a new country to live in abroad means that greater numbers of international citizens are spending increased amounts of time in Bulgaria.

If you fall into any of these categories you really should be appraised of the situation relating to available healthcare in Bulgaria before you go just in case you fall ill, fall over or find yourself in need of a doctor or a dentist!  This is a guide to the available healthcare in Bulgaria and it contains the recommendations of the British Department of Health regarding health insurance requirements for foreigners travelling to or living in Bulgaria.

The state health care system in Bulgaria has been severely under funded for many years and although things are slowly changing now that Bulgaria has joined the EU, is in receipt of financial assistance and is actually improving its own economy, changes such as these take significant amounts of time.  As a visitor to Bulgaria or a foreign citizen living in Bulgaria a great deal will depend on your home country’s reciprocal agreement with Bulgaria for the provision of healthcare as to whether you will receive any treatment free or whether you will have to pay for all treatment.

British citizens are the main ones currently moving to Bulgaria and taking holidays there and fortunately for them, Britain has a reciprocal agreement in place whereby any Bulgarian in the UK who requires emergency medical or dental assistance will receive it, so any Brit in Bulgaria who needs urgent attention will receive it free of charge as well.

When it comes to the availability of doctors, medical clinics and hospitals it all depends on where you’re headed.  In the main towns, cities and resorts there is a far greater availability of general services – both private and state funded – but as soon as you venture into the more rural areas of Bulgaria and away from the madding crowd you’ll find it harder to find any form of medical assistance…this is certainly worth bearing in mind if you’re thinking about living in Bulgaria and you prefer a rural retreat!  You may have to travel long distances just to see a GP or to buy basic medical supplies.

According to the UK’s Department of Health website “recent changes suggest that the state healthcare sector is very limited. Private medical insurance cover is strongly recommended.”  We would agree with this statement – if you’re going to be spending any amount of time in Bulgaria you’d be very wise to take out a medical insurance policy and probably one that covers not just emergency treatment but all forms of treatment and even repatriation to your home country in the event that medical services in Bulgaria cannot treat you.

For those Britons who are happy to risk it and just rely on the reciprocal arrangement for the receipt of emergency treatment, they will need their passport and NHS medical card whenever they go to a doctor or to hospital, they will currently receive medical, hospital and dental treatment free and have to pay for medicines, certain specialist treatment and most laboratory tests.

A final note worth adding is that while many doctors have at least rudimentary English language skills, the majority of nursing staff do not.  Therefore if you can, take someone who can translate with you when you go to seek medical assistance!  Additionally, the numbers of nursing staff available per patient is very low in Bulgaria and so general nursing duties such as changing sheets and administering meals in hospitals are expected to be done by the family members of the sick person.