Bulgarian doctors, nurses, and medical staff are deciding Friday whether to stage massive rallies across the country because of insufficient hospital funding.

In "warning" protests on November 1, they issued an ultimatum and deadline to the National Health Insurance Fund (NZOK) to solve the problem with payments to hospitals by November 8.

There are scheduled meetings of the Bulgarian Doctors' Union and medics' associations in the country to also discuss NZOK's budget, which was adopted Thursday by members of the Parliamentary Health Committee.

So far, NZOK has not given any signs it has found a way to pay 100% of what is due to hospitals.

The Health Minister assured that patients will not pay extra.

The outrage and plans for mass rallies were triggered by NZOK's decision to pay only 80% for activities of medical institutions until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, many patient organizations have urged institutions to defend the dignity of Bulgarian doctors, and enable them to do their jobs.

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