Reducing premiums: The National Health Service can't handle it....

When the Sejm debated the government draft on Wednesday, the Health Minister was absent, but when questioned by reporters she openly stated that she did not support the solution, prepared at the Finance Ministry, of a "second step" of reducing health premiums for self-employed people. As she admitted, she had discussed the issue with the Finance Minister, adding that the National Health Fund would not bear the revenue loss.

Leszczyna's declaration surprised MPs, who, at a meeting convened to give an opinion on the motions and amendments tabled during the second reading, began to demand a break until the arrival of the ministers of health and finance and clarification of the contradiction between what the finance ministry maintains (that the contribution loss will be compensated, so there will be no negative impact on the National Health Fund) and Izabela Leszczyna's words. - This is a government project and the prime minister has appointed the finance minister to represent the government's position," retorted ruling coalition parliamentarians to the opposition deputies' demands. The committees saw no need to "pull" the ministers and first rejected, by a small majority, the Law and Justice motion, only to reject in a moment by a huge majority Marcelina Zawisza's motion to reject the bill in the third reading (to be precise, the committees will recommend to the Sejm to reject it).

Voting against the bill will be the Left, the Together circle and, most likely, the Confederation, whose amendment to reduce the premium for all entrepreneurs (read - protecting the richest entrepreneurs from the increase in the premium, as the government's proposal implies). Law and Justice, most likely, will abstain from the vote. The Left and the MPs of the Together circle argue that it is not possible to reduce the revenues of the National Health Fund in a situation where a huge hole is brewing in the payer's budget, because this will inevitably translate into a worsening of patients' access to the public health system. There is also another argument, namely the impact of regulation on the labor market. Members of left-wing groups estimate that the bill will encourage employers to "push out" employees from full-time contracts to B2B, due to even more favorable labor costs than at present.