The health budget is bursting at the seams, the National Health Fund has released new data. “Health insurance premium is no longer enough”

Ultimately, the National Health Fund's financial plan for 2025 exceeded PLN 220 billion, of which the state budget covered nearly PLN 33 billion, the National Health Fund Headquarters announced on Tuesday. The surplus fund was estimated at over PLN 5 billion, according to information provided to PAP.

Paweł Florek from the National Health Fund Headquarters noted that the subsidy from the state budget was record-breaking, as was the final financial plan of the National Health Fund for 2025. Florek emphasized that Unfortunately, the health insurance premium collected from the insured is no longer sufficientto finance all tasks for which the National Health Fund is responsible.

Surpluses in unlimited services (e.g. strokes, heart attacks, childbirth, imaging diagnostics, visits to specialists) amounted to PLN 1.62 billion. Limited overpayments for drugs in drug programs and chemotherapy: PLN 1.09 billion. The remaining surpluses in limited benefits amounted to PLN 2.61 billion (including corrections, the so-called degression). This amounts to a total of PLN 5.32 billion.

The National Health Fund will first settle unlimited overpayments. The fund announced that the funds for this purpose will go to medical facilities, mainly hospitals, in March.

The NFZ headquarters emphasized that overperformance in limited services is not an obligation of the NFZ, i.e. the Fund does not have to pay for them. However, if there are free funds in the budgets of specific provincial branches of the National Health Fund, then the National Health Fund may also pay for these excesses, although not in full. The announcement noted that each region decides independently, based on its budget, the scale at which it will pay for limited overperformance.

In February, the Minister of Health, Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda, informed Fr transfer of PLN 4 billion from the ministry's funds to the National Health Fund for settlements for last year. According to the National Health Fund, this will allow financing unlimited overperformance for 2025.

The President of the National Health Fund, Filip Nowak, announced that the Fund would pay 100%. for overpayments in drug programs, although these benefits are limited. Last week, Deputy Minister of Health Katarzyna Kęcka announced that hospitals would receive from 30 to 100 percent for overperformance of limited services. valuations.

In 2025, the subsidy for the National Health Fund increased from the initially planned PLN 18.3 billion to nearly PLN 33 billion. Ultimately, the National Health Fund's financial plan for 2025 exceeded PLN 220 billion.

In 2026, PLN 247.8 billion is to be allocated to health care. The subsidy from the state budget in 2026 for the National Health Fund is expected to amount to PLN 26 billion. The gap in financing treatment is estimated at PLN 23 billion. (PAP)

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