Bulgarian authorities have launched a large-scale evaluate of hospital remedy information after figuring out hundreds of on line casino visits made by people who had been formally registered as hospitalised on the identical time. The checks comply with information shared by the National Revenue Agency, which raised issues over discrepancies between medical information and verified bodily presence in playing venues.
The National Health Insurance Fund confirmed that it has begun inspections into circumstances involving incomplete or non-existent hospital stays. According to preliminary findings masking the primary half of 2025, authorities recorded greater than 22,000 visits to land-based playing venues in periods when sufferers had been logged as receiving inpatient medical remedy, the Bulgarian News Agency reported. These visits concerned 3,890 insured people.
Data Cross-Checks Trigger Nationwide Inspections
The discrepancies had been recognized by evaluating two centralized information units: obligatory customer registration information from licensed playing venues and hospital admission timelines saved within the nationwide well being system. Current playing rules require each customer to a land-based casino or gaming corridor to current a legitimate identification doc for every entry, with the information transmitted to NRA servers in actual time.
Licensed operators should stay constantly linked to those programs and submit exercise information on deposits and payouts linked to registered participant accounts. This framework allowed authorities to verify that people had been bodily current in casinos throughout timeframes that overlapped with recorded hospital stays.
Based on the data equipped, the Health Insurance Fund initiated formal inspections and acknowledged it will take further management measures inside its authorized authority. If violations are confirmed, the Fund stated it will search to get well funds made for non-existent hospitalizations or circumstances the place scientific pathways and remedy protocols weren’t adopted. Other related establishments might also be notified to make sure coordinated enforcement.
Officials Urge Caution As Investigations Continue
Despite the size of the findings, officers have emphasised that conclusions about fraud stay untimely. Momchil Mavrov, Deputy Governor of the National Health Insurance Fund, urged restraint whereas inspections are ongoing.
“Let’s not call them fraudulent hospitalisations yet, this is just one version which we’ve been working on with the NRA over the last six months,” Mavrov stated.
He defined that the cross-checks present robust proof of bodily presence however don’t but set up duty. “The information was given to us by the NRA. We calculate the length of the hospitalisations, whereas our colleagues give us indeniable proof of the individuals’ bodily presence in casinos at the moment.
“It is undoubtedly confirmed that individuals who had been imagined to be underneath a hospitalisation that has a particular begin and finish date had been current in on line casino halls. This have to be additional investigated.
“The reason could be that patients voluntarily left a hospital’s premises, overcoming the control measures of the medical institutions.”
According to Mavrov, the hospital remedies linked to the recognized circumstances accounted for funds of roughly BGN 7 million, with further prices for medical units and medicines nonetheless underneath calculation.
Scope Of Review And Financial Impact
The inspection covers almost 90% of medical establishments contracted for hospital care, excluding solely amenities with minimal affected person admissions. Preliminary evaluation exhibits a correlation between hospitalization volumes and the variety of discrepancies recognized, pointing to a sample linked to affected person behaviour somewhat than remoted circumstances.
Health officers famous that some flagged hospitalizations contain scientific pathways the place sufferers wouldn’t realistically be capable to go away the ability, together with remedies related to extreme circumstances or intensive care. Authorities confused that the information serves as grounds for inspections somewhat than conclusions of wrongdoing.
The Health Insurance Fund stated it’s going to publish particulars of confirmed violations, sanctions, and recovered funds after the inspections conclude. Officials described the hassle as a part of a broader push to guard public assets via improved oversight enabled by centralized digital programs.
