The Health Committee gave a positive opinion on the change in the financial plan of the National Health Fund. 17 voted for, 1 against, and 7 abstained. The NHF budget will increase by PLN 9.1 billion, which will be entirely allocated to health services.
Changing the financial plan of the National Health Fund. What will the extra money be spent on?
Published March 23, 2022 15:41
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The largest increase in expenditure, in terms of amounts, will apply to hospital treatment - by PLN 5.18 billion. The Fund will spend PLN 2.08 billion more on outpatient specialist care (AOS) than originally planned - and this is the largest percentage increase. Outlays for POZ will increase by PLN 436.6 million.
This is the first amendment to the plan adopted in July last year, and its scale results mainly from the adoption of amendments to the tax laws (Polish Order), which significantly increased the amount of contributions paid by people running a business (PLN 7 billion). The remaining increase is the result of changes in macroeconomic indicators, mainly faster than originally assumed wage growth.
During the discussion, Krystyna Skowrońska (KO) asked whether the additional pool of money in this year's NHF budget also includes the treatment of refugees from Ukraine. - We already have over 2.2 million refugees. It is as if we had one Podkarpackie voivodeship - said Skowrońska. Marek Hok (KO) inquired about the principles of treatment of COVID-19 patients after March 31 (the covid fund expires on this day). - The covid fund will no longer exist, but the coronavirus pandemic is not over yet - he reminded.
Bernard Waśko, the deputy chairman of the National Health Fund for medical matters, explained that the treatment of refugees from Ukraine would be financed in a different manner. - First, we pay in advance for the treatment of all Ukrainian patients from our own resources, and then we will receive a refund of this money as part of the refund from the state budget - he explained. Therefore, there will be no major amendment to the financial plan, because changes in the NHF budget will be made on an ongoing basis, in a working manner.
From April 1, the National Health Fund will pay for covid patients on the general basis, i.e. according to the catalog of guaranteed services and products billed on the basis of homogeneous patient groups (JGP). - The demand for covid services is clearly lower. The number of hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 is also decreasing. Therefore, from April 1, we will pay for treatment of e.g. patients with pneumonia or acute respiratory failure on the normal terms, according to JGP billing products - added Bernard Waśko. However, none of the Members asked, for example, about the financing of tests (including those performed routinely in hospitals).
