"This article aims to illustrate and discuss some of the contemporary problems and perspectives of the Bulgarian hospital care system. By taking this into consideration, the article concentrates on several important dimensions of the problem, based on a move to an insurance-based financing model; and liberalisation and privatisation. The first part delivers a short, synthesised review of the main goals and leading philosophy of healthcare reform from the period 1997-2001. The second part focuses on the hospital care sector in the country. The goal here is to explore the main development trends in the sector for the period subsequent to the reforms, according to two criteria – the accessibility of hospital care services; and the efficient use of resources. The third part discusses some of the new reform plans for the hospital care sector from the point of view of their adequacy as a solution to the existing problems. In conclusion, the article points to the existence of the four-party governing coalition providing an unstable basis for the driving forward of the necessary reforms."

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