UNMET NEEDS FOR HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN BULGARIA

Background: In all European countries, an impor-tant policy objective is the equity of access to health care. The factors that affect access to health care can differ as the demand-and supply-side factors. Moreover, there are many tools to assess the extent of inequity in access to ser-vices. One simple tool is the assessing reports of unmet needs for health care. Purpose: The study has two objectives: to examine the evidence of self-reported unmet needs and to analyze the relationship between foregone medical care and both type of residence and socioeconomic status. Materials and Methods: We use data from the Eu-ropean Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. The access to health care is measured using the concept of unmet need for medical examination or treatment during the last 12 months. The relationship between foregone medical care and both type of residence and socioeco-nomic status is examined through the representative survey conducted in 2014. Results: The Eurostat results show that treatment costs are the most common reason for foregone medical care in Bulgaria. We observe a gradual decrease in the share of people who reported having unmet needs due to being too expensive. According to the 2014 survey, significant differences between urban and rural areas as well as among the income groups are identified. The results show the prob-lems in access to health care services mainly in small towns and villages. Conclusion: Although major essential changes were made in the Bulgarian health care system, the equity prob-lems remain an important challenge to policy-makers.