Is the health insurance premium not enough? Minister of Health with an acute diagnosis of the health care system

The public health care system requires finding new ways of providing financial support, because the current model – based on health insurance premiums – has exhausted its possibilities – said the Minister of Health, Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda, during the European Economic Congress (ECE) in Katowice.

Minister of Health Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda took part on Wednesday – the first day of the 18th European Economic Congress – in a panel devoted to the future of the health care system.

She emphasized that this sector is a legitimate and key part of the economy, generating over 8.1% in 2024. GDP. In her opinion, a necessary condition for healing the system is to abandon the current political game. – I would like us to start using the fact method. (…) Let us remember that we do not treat patients with populism, said the head of the Ministry of Health.

She pointed out the need to move away from ad hoc crisis management to long-term planning, which is to be achieved through the creation of maps of health services. – This will be a road map that will design the functioning of the entities in the coming years – she explained. – We will not only say where something should be, but we will indicate how it should function, taking into account the demography and conditions of the region – she added.

The head of the Ministry of Health recalled the Medical Fund, under which PLN 1 billion 149 million was allocated to support the reorganization and consolidation processes of hospitals. – There has never been such a fund. We encourage you to look at your entity more broadly than just from the perspective of one district, city or voivodeship, she added.

The President of the National Health Fund, Dr. Filip Nowak, drew attention to the problem of pay disproportions in the medical sector. He pointed out that the challenge is particularly the earnings of staff on contracts and not on employment contracts. – These are areas that often outrage public opinion and our patients. We don't take anyone's money. We provide tools for rational use of funds, noted the head of the National Health Fund.

He also informed about the soon planned regulations in outpatient specialist care (AOS), which would optimize expenses and reallocate funds to where they are most needed, including: for oncology and cardiology.

Prof. Piotr Czauderna, social advisor to the president, stated that the current financing system based solely on health insurance premiums has exhausted its possibilities. He pointed to the need to conclude a new social pact. – Either we will have to increase this contribution and convince the public to do so in exchange for a guarantee of better accessibility, or we will have to identify additional sources of financing the system. The latter solution will actually increase the tax burden anyway, let's be honest, he argued. – Today's medicine is different than 20 years ago. We cannot pretend that with current financing we will be able to fulfill all the promises we make to patients, he added.

The presidential adviser also warned against uncontrolled transformations of hospitals motivated solely by economics. He proposed a return to the management of health processes at the voivodeship level to avoid accidental closure of departments that may be key to the safety of local communities.

The discussion included the voice of practitioners managing the largest centers. Renata Wachowicz, director of the University Clinical Center (UCK) in Katowice, warned against the effects of limiting the financing of outpatient diagnostics. – I am afraid that patients who do not get access to outpatient tests will look for access paths through inpatient diagnostics. This generates unnecessary costs and should not happen, she explained. (PAP)

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