As of today, every general practitioner in Bulgaria who has a contract with the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) may give a referral for a free PCR test. The amendments were published in the State Gazette and enter into force retroactively –  from November 1.

Doctors will issue referral forms for patients showing two of the following symptoms - fever, dry coughing, tiredness, loss of taste or sense of smell, difficult breathing or shortness of breath, myalgia, headache, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, sore throat, oxygen saturation less than 92% or less than 88% (if the patient is diagnosed with chronic obstructive lung disease) after conducted pulsoxymetry.

No free referrals for PCR tests will be issued to patients in hospitals or those sent to hospital because of a poor or severe general condition. They will not be issued for control examinations, screening or asymptomatic patients who contacted someone infected. A referral will not be available to people who have already done a rapid antigen test and the disease has been diagnosed.

The patients don’t have to visit their GP to have the necessary referral note, it can be done over the phone. There will be no daily limit for the number of issued referrals. A PCR test’s price will be BGN 60 and the cost will be covered by NHIF.