The Supervisory Board of the National Social Security Institute is meeting today to consider the draft budget of the State Social Security for next year, BNR reported.
Representatives of the state, business and unions will vote on the proposals for the insurance for the "Pensions" Fund to increase by 2 percentage points from January 1, the maximum insurance income to increase by 470 leva and be 4 thousand and 600 leva, and the minimum, including for self-insured persons, to be the minimum wage proposed as 605 euros.
The social security bill plan for 2026 is the first developed in euros. Lev payments and revenues are converted at the official BNB exchange rate.
The state plans to collect over 1 billion and 200 million euros more than this year from the revenue part of the DOO budget, taking into account the effect of higher pension contributions and higher maximum and minimum insured income, thus financing the modernization of pensions from July 1st next year.
It will be according to the Swiss rule and will be between 7 and 8 percent, the exact amount will be decided by the Supervisory Board of the National Social Security Institute at a later stage, once data on inflation and the growth of insured income this year become available.
The minimum pension for seniority and old age from July 1st will be almost 347 euros, with a little over 322 euros by the end of June.
Next year, no increase in the pension ceiling, which is 3 thousand and 400 leva.
No increases are planned in the benefits for mothers for caring for a child up to 2 years of age, and the minimum and maximum daily unemployment benefits will remain frozen, according to the current proposals.
The estimates indicate that the number of pensioners will continue to increase. The average pension will reach 541 euros, with the real increase estimated at 4.8 percent, after deducting the projected inflation of 3.5 percent.
300 thousand more hospitalizations and over 230 million euros more hospital care costs are included in the draft budget of the Health Fund for next year. The framework, prepared in euros, will be discussed at a meeting of the Supervisory Board of the Fund.
The draft estimates 2 million and 400 thousand hospital admissions next year. For comparison - the number of hospitalizations electronically reported until yesterday already exceeds the 2 million and 100 thousand planned for this year.
More spending is planned for all activities related to the provision of medical care. The number of physiotherapy and rehabilitation procedures has been increased by 200 thousand. The same growth is planned for the number of laboratory tests, which will approach 32 million activities.
Funds are planned for a new outpatient procedure for cancer patients. It will examine genes to detect tumor mutations and determine targeted therapy.
Next year, screening programs for colon and cervical cancer using home tests, which were announced to begin this fall, are also planned.
The project includes funds to increase the salaries of doctors in some hospitals until they reach the levels of the sectoral collective agreement.
The framework for 2026 provides for 5.3 billion euros for healthcare.