Not by fireworks alone does man live. Also scheduled for January is the start of work on the civic bill on health care salaries (civic, submitted by nurses). It hurts one's eyes to see how much Law and Justice deputies are looking forward to this item: Janusz Cieszynski, for the second time in the space of a few weeks (already knowing that the Health Committee's consideration of the bill is scheduled for January), submitted a motion to proceed without delay, and MP Czeslaw Hoc asked with concern where in the budget is guaranteed 10 billion zlotys to finance the increases demanded by nurses. A tear wells up in one's eye at the memory with what consistency Mr. Hoc's recent club colleague, chairman of the NC in the previous term, explained to MPs in the then opposition that a law is passed first, and then - possibly - funding is provided for it. At the time, Czeslaw Hoc apparently did not listen - perhaps rightly so, after all, it was not to him that these words were directed.
The "games" should not be ignored. In fact, each of the items that the Health Committee has included in its work plan is important and deserves to be considered, analyzed and conclusions drawn. However, it would be a bad thing if the current of settlements hijacked and absorbed the deputies so much that there was not enough energy and time to deal with the substance. Health care problems that depend only a little on who is in power and much more on what decisions are made at the highest level.
Also decisions on health care financing. - I have always lamented - and here nothing has changed - that we are referring in this law to the GDP of two years ago. It's not fair, because we're messing with public opinion a bit. Everyone thinks it's so cool because we already have 6 or 7 percent of GDP, and in fact we don't have such a level," Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna said during a meeting of the Health Committee devoted to giving an opinion on the health part of the budget law for next year. And for this statement, the Minister deserves praise, although it raises one key question: will the October 15 Coalition, whose representatives over the past few years (including Izabela Leszczyna) not only deplored the inclusion of the N-2 methodology in the law, but demanded its removal and even announced that it must disappear from the law, do anything in this direction to make the increase in health expenditures realistic, or will we limit ourselves to deceiving this increase and stand in the truth: 5.2 percent of GDP for health (not the adulterated 6.2 percent) in 2024? The difference is - a bagatelle - some 35-40 billion zlotys.
