Tusk Orders Audit of Public Healthcare Spending Following Physician Earnings Scandal

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has requested a comprehensive audit by the Supreme Audit Office into public healthcare expenditure and announced legislative measures to increase transparency regarding state-funded physician salaries.

Government Response to Healthcare System Irregularities

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the government is seeking a wide-ranging audit from the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) to examine how public funds are spent within the healthcare system. He emphasized that the government plans to expedite new regulations designed to ensure full transparency of salaries financed by public money.

Tusk addressed reports concerning systemic issues, including the use of exclusive VIP lounges in medical facilities. He stressed that these reports must be clarified to their full extent, stating that the public deserves to know how funds are being managed.

Million-Dollar Earnings of a Public Healthcare Official

The controversy centers on Dawid Kacprzyk, a doctor without specialization and a Civic Coalition councilor. Financial records for 2025 reveal that Kacprzyk earned 1,595,932 PLN from medical services, averaging nearly 133,000 PLN per month. Despite lacking the necessary specialization, he served as the coordinator and de facto head of the Emergency Department at the Warsaw South Hospital, clocking in approximately 331 hours per month.

Following the revelations, Kacprzyk was removed from the Civic Coalition. Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski has ordered audits across all emergency departments in the capital to assess staffing and operational standards.

Legislative Push for Pay Transparency

The government acknowledged that existing laws prevented administrative oversight of specific individual salaries paid from public coffers. Tusk confirmed that work is underway on regulations targeting excessive pay gaps, which the Marshal intends to pass through an emergency legislative process.

These new rules are intended to provide the state with the tools necessary to monitor individual earnings and ensure that public expenditure in the medical sector is fully visible and controlled.

Tax Implications of Flat-Rate Medical Billing

The scandal highlighted the structure of health insurance contributions for high-earning medical professionals. Because Kacprzyk utilized a flat-rate tax system for his medical business, his monthly health insurance contribution was capped at 1,385 PLN, regardless of his total annual income exceeding 1.5 million PLN.

In contrast, experts note that if the same income had been earned under a standard employment contract, the tax and social security burdens would have been significantly higher. Estimated calculations suggest that the health insurance contribution for that level of income would typically reach approximately 137,500 PLN, fueling further debate on the fairness of current medical employment and taxation models.