The Senate Health Committee rejected the Act on the Professions of Physician and Dentist in its entirety, which provides for transferring the costs of certain services from the state budget to the National Health Fund. The upper house will consider the bill at its next meeting, which begins on December 14.
Bill taking money for health rejected by the Senate
Published Dec. 5, 2022 15:22
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- I am appalled that we have to vote on such a project. We would like to introduce some amendments, but such a bill cannot be accepted - explained the chairman of the committee, Beata Małecka-Libera, at the end of the two-hour meeting.
The meeting began with the presentation of the government's position by Deputy Minister of Health Maciej Miłkowski, who repeated all the arguments presented by the ministry during the work in the Sejm, emphasizing that the act will not have any negative consequences in terms of financing health care, because although it does reduce finances the National Health Fund by PLN 13 billion (benefit costs, no contributions paid by the budget and transfer of PLN 5.5 billion from the reserve fund to the COVID-19 Prevention Fund), guarantees from the so-called 7 percent of the act GDP remain in force and if less money flows into the system from contributions than the minimum provided for in the Act, the state budget will make up the difference.
After the deputy minister's speech, a representative of the Senate legislators took the floor. Their position is unequivocal: the government and the Sejm violated the Constitution several times during the processing of this bill. First of all, due to the lack of public consultations, which violated the principles of a democratic state ruled by law and the principles of legalism, but also due to "throw-ins" in the form of amendments after the end of the first reading (those amendments deviating from the substance of the provisions being processed) and also - due to the fictitiousness of the 21-day period, that the constitution allows the president to make a decision before signing it, if it were to enter into force on January 1, 2023.
- It is completely unacceptable that the Ministry of Health itself applies for a reduction in money for health - said Małecka-Libera, while emphasizing that the Senate has not yet received such a formally defective legal act in this term of office.
During the discussion, questions were asked whether the changes had been consulted with the National Health Fund and whether the National Health Fund was ready for it. - There is space to take over these tasks. We are organizationally prepared - replied Małgorzata Dziedziak, deputy president of the National Health Fund for Operations. When asked about the position of the Council of the National Health Fund, she informed that the Council discussed, but did not issue an opinion, because changes to the regulations are not subject to opinions.
- We did not have the opportunity to give an opinion on the act - reminded Mateusz Kowalczyk, vice-president of the Supreme Medical Council. - We have twice issued our position that it is very outrageous and unfavorable to transfer the costs to the budget of the National Health Fund. The only acceptable point in the act, which we also postulated, is the exemption from the oral State Specialization Examination of persons who obtained 75% in the written part. positive answers. This will speed up the entry of doctors into the system - explained the representative of the medical self-government. Just last week, it seemed that due to doctors' waiting for a change regarding PES, the Senate would not decide to reject the act, but would remove all provisions regarding changes in the financing of health care, but constitutional arguments prevailed.
- If the Sejm rejects the bill, the Senate will urgently begin work on the draft concerning the part that is important for the medical community, i.e. the provisions on the PES - announced Małecka-Libera before the vote, in which the vast majority of committee members voted in favor of rejecting the bill.
