Half a billion zlotys was spent by Poland on health care services for Ukrainian refugees during the ten months of 2022, according to data provided by the National Health Fund in February, a year after Russia invaded our eastern neighbor. The benefits are primarily primary health care, which, together with outpatient specialized care, account for more than 85 percent of the services provided. What does the data show?
„Służba Zdrowia”
Refugees in the Polish health care system
Published April 14, 2023 15:08
More than 235,000 refugees were assisted in primary care centers, more than 74,000 in AOS. Just over 40,000 people were hospitalized, and refugee women gave birth to 4,300 children during this period.
Dry data tell us little, but one can surmise that the scale of refugees' use of the health care system is not something the government would (could) want to boast about excessively, for if it were the other way around, undoubtedly the presentation of such data would take place with due attentiveness, against a backdrop of flags and in the light of the jupiter, and not, all in all, surreptitiously, in answers to questions from the more or less inquisitive media.
That the figures are rather modest is evidenced by the money spent - in the first weeks of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski repeatedly said that access to health services for refugees, almost identical to those enjoyed by Polish citizens, was a cost of 300 million zlotys per month for every million refugees. And since statistics show that the number is highly variable, but it can be assumed that, at least since the vacations, refugees residing in Poland permanently (or longer) are between one million and two million, half a billion zlotys spent in ten months is a disproportionately low amount compared to ministerial estimates. Which, incidentally, seemed to have been greatly inflated - perhaps for the purpose of pressuring the European Commission, as it is worth remembering that in late spring and summer Poland firmly tied the fact of its involvement and financial burden of aid to refugees from Ukraine, including in health terms, to negotiations on the possibility of waiving payments for COVID-19 vaccines.
Given the demographic profile of the refugees - they are mainly young women with children, a large proportion with young children, and a relatively small group of seniors - one would assume that the use of the health care system would be much more intensive. It is not, because (...)
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