Nawrocki is to submit to the Speaker of the Sejm a draft amendment to the Medical Fund Act, in an effort to channel an additional PLN 3.5 billion to the National Health Fund (NFZ) amid a deepening financing crisis.
Presidential spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz told reporters that the proposal would be formally filed on Tuesday, following weeks of consultations with health experts and officials.
The move comes as the NFZ faces a shortfall of around PLN 20 billion (EUR 4.72 billion), according to Karol Rabenda, a minister in the presidential chancellery.
Rabenda said the government bore "100 percent of the responsibility" for the deficit but stressed that the president "cannot remain a passive observer."
He argued that the Medical Fund still contains unused investment allocations – particularly for oncology – which were left untouched "due to the ineffectiveness" of health minister Izabela Leszczyna.
The president proposes shifting these funds to treatment for children and adolescents.
Piotr Czauderna, a medical adviser to the president, outlined three additional components of the bill: a new sub-fund for rare paediatric diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy; a security-infrastructure sub-fund to develop hospital capacity for emergencies, including military conflict or natural disasters; and the creation of a Patient Service Centre to streamline access to medical information, specialist referrals and feedback mechanisms.
The president is also considering convening a Cabinet Council to hear the government’s recovery plan for the sector, a senior aide said at the weekend.
The government, meanwhile, has put forward its own amendment to the Medical Fund, proposing that the NFZ receive an extra PLN 3.56 billion (EUR 840 million) in 2025 and increasing the limit on reimbursements for services provided to under-18s from PLN 840 million (EUR 198 million) to PLN 4.4 billion (EUR 1 billion)
Hospitals across the country have recently postponed non-urgent admissions due to delayed NFZ payments.
While earlier estimates suggested the Fund’s deficit could reach PLN 14 billion (EUR 3.3b illion) this year, the health ministry now says the final figure may be lower.
Officials note that state budget transfers to the NFZ for 2025 have already been increased from PLN 18.35 billion (EUR 4.33 billion) to more than PLN 31 billion (EUR 7.32 billion).
In 2022, Poland spent just EUR 1,137 per person on healthcare – less than one-third of the EU average of EUR 3,685, according to Eurostat’s latest available data.
Its healthcare spending also amounted to only 6.4 percent of GDP, well below the EU average of 10.4 percent.
(ał)
Source: PAP, IAR, Eurostat