The Ministry is allocating PLN 1.6 billion from its own budget for this purpose. It is known that in several provinces the non-limited benefits have already been settled to the end, but there are some in which there is a long way to go. In all regions, the problem will be, as hospital directors say, overexecution in limited benefits. There is no promise of funding for these benefits, and there is little chance that funds will appear for this - in the foreseeable future.
Among other things, hospitals are concerned about payments for drug programs. They want to know whether they can carry them out, or whether they will be forced in the fourth quarter to postpone the start of therapy for new patients or even advise patients to seek their chance at other centers.
The challenge will be the third quarter. The MZ's budget is already heavily strained (Leszczyna has already reached into it twice, cutting investment money, among other things). So the Fund and the Health Ministry are looking toward the Finance Minister, but at the moment for Andrzej Domanski and the entire government (and certainly for Prime Minister Donald Tusk) is to find money to deal with the effects of the floods. There is even talk of PLN 24 billion. The chances of the budget having surpluses at the end of the year that can be allocated to health care are therefore diminishing. There are shortfalls in the budgets of the Fund's largest branches - Mazowieckie and Slaskie - which run into billions of zlotys. However, Minister Izabela Leszczyna also assured that non-limited services for the third quarter will be paid. Hospitals, however, would like to know when this will happen - for today they assume that it is unlikely to happen this year.
On Tuesday, October 1, the financial situation of the NFZ and the settlement of the payer's obligations to hospitals will be addressed by members of the Health Committee. After revising the NFZ's financial plan and including the money that the health ministry has provided, experts estimate that still - just to balance the current costs for the whole of 2024 - there may be a shortfall of PLN 7-8 billion nationwide.
