After years of waiting, healthcare in Poland is taking on a new face. Economics is also entering this sphere of activity. Although the money paid into the National Health Fund still flows out in a broad stream and patients are still offered nothing new, people expecting decent treatment are no longer condemned solely to handing out bribes.
For some time now, it has been possible to purchase health insurance and use medical consultations and other benefits without restrictions. Although it is still necessary to pay a contribution to the NFZ to receive hospital treatment, additional insurance makes it possible to expect special treatment.
It Pays Off
Insurance companies show that treatment does not have to be as expensive as the government and the NFZ claim. It turns out that for a contribution three times lower, a customer who purchases a policy receives far more than the public healthcare system offers.
A health insurance agreement is independent of the insurance held with the National Health Fund, so there is no need to change one's primary care physician. The customer can use specialist consultations guaranteed under the insurance and, independently of that, continue treatment with their own doctor.
A Consultation on Demand
For some time now, one insurance company has been offering health policies to residents of Zgorzelec. For PLN 51 per month, they receive an unlimited number of visits to various specialists, including allergists, surgeons, gynaecologists, cardiologists, ophthalmologists and orthopaedists, free rehabilitation procedures, free access to services known as "one-day surgery", and free laboratory and diagnostic tests.
Contrary to the standard commonly accepted in public healthcare, an insured customer will be seen by a specialist within a maximum of one day after reporting such a need. But that is not all. In the case of hospital treatment, nursing care, accommodation in a room for no more than three people, and transport home after treatment has ended are provided.
The cost of family insurance is PLN 121 per month. The policy covers a spouse and children up to the age of 25. It should be noted that the insurance does not cover the financing of complex operations or visits to a dentist.
Drawing Water with a Sieve
It is astonishing that, in private healthcare, everything costs three times less than in the NFZ. Astonishing?! No, it is simply pure economics. The truth is that most funds in public healthcare were and are being wasted. A huge administrative apparatus consumes the greater part of our contribution. Money leaks away as if through a sieve, while patients are left to pay for treatment from their own funds. The scandals in the Sickness Funds echoed loudly, with directors and their deputies earning in one year as much as the debt of a small hospital.
The Free Market
The only salvation may be the commercialisation of treatment. Private networks of medical clinics are slowly reaching agreements with large insurance companies. Policies are being tailored to customers who are somewhat less affluent than before. At the same time, more and more people are willing to pay a doctor out of their own pockets, as long as they are not condemned to the state healthcare system. Research shows that more than half of people would purchase some form of additional health insurance at a private clinic if the monthly cost were less than PLN 30.
The changes taking place on the Polish market promise a better future. One can only hope that, after some time, the state will stop forcing us to pay contributions and taking care of us by force. For now, we have to pay, pay, pay once more and... not get ill.
Krzysztof Gwizdała