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Even PiS sees the need to amend the Medical Fund Act

MedExpress Team

Medexpress

Published June 24, 2022 16:10

Even PiS sees the need to amend the Medical Fund Act - Header image
Fot. Getty Images/iStockphoto

First, on Wednesday, during the discussions of the Health Committee on the implementation of the budget for 2021, and a day later, during the plenary session, the deputies discussed the activities of the Medical Fund. The opposition did not leave a dry thread on him, but rather on the Ministry of Health, blaming the ministry for rolling FM spending and accumulating money that would increase the pool included in the minimum level of public spending on health. - The Medical Fund is a long-term concept and it was emphasized from the very beginning - retorts the ministry.

On Thursday, the Sejm dealt with the government's information on the functioning of the Medical Fund. - Today it has been exactly two years since the bill on the Medical Fund was submitted to the Sejm. The author of the idea of ​​creating a special Fund to help sick children, especially for rare diseases, diseases whose treatment is not reimbursed, and oncological diseases, was the then presidential candidate Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. President Andrzej Duda picked up this idea in the election campaign and presented it to the Sejm. Of course, he did it to cover the scandal with the allocation of PLN 2 billion to TVP, said Dariusz Klimczak (KP). The People's Party asked the government for information on the Medical Fund and its role in health care, recalling that in 2020-2021, with the amount of PLN 6 billion, the Fund spent only a few hundred million zlotys, with the vast majority - in 2021. The rest of the money was frozen. - Of course, the ministry declares that the unused funds will be transferred to the next year. This means that over PLN 7bn will be available for transfer this year. Half of the year has passed and we do not know anything - said the Polish Coalition MP, asking for an amendment to the Medical Fund Act.

According to the deputy head of the ministry of health, Marcin Martyniak, the situation is under control. Martyniak said that the Medical Fund has continuous funding, which means that money is not lost. That there is more and more going on in individual sub-funds, there are (or will be) organized and settled contests worth billions of zlotys, it will also speed up spending money directly on treatment.

After the deputy minister's speech, a discussion started. Opposition MPs thundered that while FM was amassing money, parents of children with rare diseases, as before the enactment of the Medical Fund law, are doomed to public fundraising and collecting caps. - Poland cannot be a dump.pl state - said Katarzyna Lubnauer (KO). MEPs called for, inter alia, fundraising for gene therapy for children with SMA. PiS MPs retorted that Poland is the European leader in SMA treatment thanks to universal access to nusinersen treatment, and in recent months - also the introduction of a universal newborn screening program.

The discussion about FM was very demagogic in places, it is a fact. However, it is worth recalling that although the Ministry of Health, during the work on the act, clearly shifted the emphasis and made the Medical Fund a source of financing for infrastructure projects (which actually requires time), in the original it was President Andrzej Duda, presenting the concept of the Medical Fund in the spring of 2020, talking about fundraising for treatment of seriously ill patients, especially children, referring to personal experiences and conversations with the first lady. Therefore, the appeals of the opposition deputies to the same phenomenon cannot be considered unfounded.

It is also worth paying attention to the fragment of Bolesław Piecha's speech, who, speaking on behalf of the club, said: - Yes, it is true that the Fund has been operating for almost two years. Yes, it is true that we have many objections to the operation of this Fund, especially when it comes to the use of funds, he said. Piecha asked the Ministry of Health to consider the amendment, and in it - to extend the FM tasks to support the development of medical staff.

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