Polish hospitals have begun delaying scheduled operations, including oncology treatments, after the National Health Fund stopped disbursing payments, according to the Council of Physicians.
Hospitals Self‑Impose Limits
Rzecznik Naczelnej Rady Lekarskiej Jakub Kosikowski reported that some hospitals are postponing next year’s planned procedures because of lack of money, affecting even oncology patients. Since NFZ has not been paying, hospitals have begun setting their own limits. They can no longer finance treatments through credit lines.
National Health Fund Increases Financial Plan
At the end of last month, the National Health Fund announced that this year’s financial plan had been increased by 3.5 billion PLN. “This reflects the additional national budget allocation requested by Health Minister Jolanta Sobierańska‑Grenda. The total budget for this year will exceed 31 billion PLN,” the NFZ said.
Mazowieckie and Silesia will sign annexes with medical institutions to guarantee access to services in November and December. The extra funds will also safeguard the needs of other regions, including payment of unlimited surpluses and drugs in medication programmes and chemotherapy.
Further Funding Talks Ongoing
Health and Finance ministries are continuing talks on further increases for the NFZ later this year. Soon the Fund will also receive about 1 billion PLN from bonds, at the Prime Minister’s request. Last year, the plan set NFZ to issue medical certificates worth over 183.6 billion PLN and a budget allocation of 18.3 billion PLN.