Buy a medical business in Poland
31.03.2023
The Ministry of Health of Poland is one of the subdivisions of the Cabinet of Ministers of the country, responsible for the development of the medical system. In its current form, the ministry has been functioning since April 11, 1945, although it has been constantly reformed since then. The current head of the department is Adam Nedzielski, who headed it in 2020, before that he was the head of the National Health Fund.
Health system in Poland
The Ministry of Health in Poland has a central regulatory body – NFZ (National Health Fund). It has subdivisions in each of the 16 Polish voivodeships, and one more operates on the basis of the Ministry of Defense. The medical system in Poland differs significantly from the standard Ministries of Health of Ukraine and other countries of the former Soviet Union.
The Polish healthcare system is financed by compulsory and voluntary contributions, which, in the amount of 9% of income, come from the salary of every worker in Poland. The collected funds go to the NFZ, and from there are distributed to the regions depending on the needs.
Polish medicine has an insurance nature – medical services are provided to citizens on the basis of concluded voluntary or compulsory insurance contracts (in the state body NFZ or private medical institutions). As a result, medicine in Poland can be called conditionally free – a person receives most services for free, but pays monthly insurance premiums from his salary.
In Poland, all officially employed citizens pay mandatory monthly contributions to the NFZ. But if a citizen is not employed, then he may prefer a private medical clinic. Cancellation of insurance is possible, but then the cost of medical services will be disproportionately high.
Health care reform in Poland
The Polish Ministry of Health did not always work according to the principles of insurance medicine. It was not until 2003 that the healthcare system was reformed with the creation of the National Health Fund (NFZ). As a result, medical services were centralized, and the system moved away from full budget funding.
Compulsory health insurance has become the basis for every officially employed Pole or foreigner (we are talking about employment based on employment contracts “umowa o pracę” or “umowa zlecenie”). More information can be found on the website of the Ministry of Health of Poland.
What is the problem
The transition to insurance medicine is generally assessed positively. This format is popular among most EU countries. Although there are negative points:
- limitation of financing of medicine from the state budget;
- a large amount of documentation and bureaucratic procedures;
- lack of a common treatment standard;
- Inability to receive a number of services if there are no funds to pay the fees.
Ways to solve
Insurance medicine in Poland continues to develop. There are problems, but they are quickly resolved. Every Polish citizen and foreigner has access to a wide range of basic medical services. Of course, Polish medical services are not free, but they are of high quality, which is constantly growing.
Conclusion
The tasks of the Ministry of Health are to provide citizens and guests of Poland with comprehensive access to quality medical services. The reform of the healthcare system and the transition to compulsory health insurance benefited Poland and clearly simplified the process. It is much easier to pay monthly premiums than to pay for individual medical services every time you visit a medical center or hospital.
