The Supreme Audit Institution has negatively assessed the implementation of the Health Minister's orders on additional cash benefits granted in connection with countering and combating COVID-19, the so-called covid allowances. The NFZ has provided the first information on the implementation of the audit's findings.
Covidium allowances to be returned. This is the result of a NIK audit
Published April 16, 2024 08:29
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As a result of the audit, the NIK found that the Health Minister allowed significant flaws in the system for granting covidien allowances, which resulted in, among other things, the payment of allowances:
- unauthorized persons;
- several times to the same person for a given month over the limit of 15 thousand zlotys (even 41.5 thousand zlotys per month);
- in the amount of PLN 15,000 despite only a few minutes or one-time performance of health services also to patients only suspected of being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus;
- As many as 31 medical staff per covid bed or 23 staff per patient.
Both the Minister of Health and the President of the National Health Fund failed to exercise their control powers and neglected to carry out checks on the correctness of the granting and payment of covidien allowances.
Among other things, the NIK requested that the Fund, including the provincial branches, carry out inspections in the proper implementation of covidium allowance contracts by medical entities.
In its response to the post-inspection letter, the NFZ Headquarters said it had taken the first steps in implementing the NIK's conclusions. As a result of inspections carried out in provincial branches, the NFZ found that funds for health care workers' salary supplements from the COVID-19 Fund in the total amount of PLN 35 million (as of March 15, 2024) had been improperly transferred, of which PLN 25 million had been recovered, and cases for the recovery of almost PLN 10 million had been referred to court.
Source: NIK
