Healthcare & Insurance
Poland has a system of public and private social care and supplementary private healthcare. Public health insurance, which you can obtain as a student for a monthly fee will cover most of your likely needs. Below we have translated the relevant health care provisions in Poland.
The application procedure for public health insurance:
In accordance with the legal regulations in force, students from countries outside the EU can be insured through the National Health Fund (NFZ). To apply for the public voluntary health insurance you need to submit following documents:
There is no application fee (opłata dodatkowa) for foreign students.
The application should be submitted to your local branch of the NFZ. The list of offices could be find on the main web page of NFZ
After signing the contract with NFZ you must report your medical insurance to the
nearest department of Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych (Social Insurance Institution)
Note that Before you can apply for the public health insurance, you must obtain a Personal ID No (PESEL), the application form is available from Ministry of Interior and Administration.
You will need to attach a copy of your birth certificate and pay an administration fee of 5 PLN (usually in form of treasure stamps). This administrative process could take up to 30 days!
Where: Departamentu Rozwoju Informatyki i Systemu Rejestrów Państwowych MSWiA, Warsaw ul Pawińskiego 17/21.
The monthly fee for your public health insurance is legalized by Family Services Regulations (Przepisy o świadczeniach rodzinnych) which from 1 September 2006 is set at 153 zł.
For more information visit here
|
Healthcare & Insurance
Public health care system:
The healthcare system is based on the following principles, that it will guarantee to insured persons: free access to health services and free choice of a service provider, the equal treatment of residents and social solidarity, obligatory contributions to healthcare for persons receiving a revenue, financing healthcare contributions from the state budget for persons not receiving a revenue, and the use of private or public care for an additional charge.
Insured persons are entitled to healthcare benefits aimed at the preservation of health, prevention of diseases and injuries, early detection of diseases, treatment, nursing care, prevention and limiting of disability. Insured persons are not entitled to healthcare benefits listed in the appendix to the act. Insured persons benefit from healthcare services provided by service providers which have signed an agreement to provide such services with the National Health Fund, these constitute the majority of healthcare institutions. In a situation where emergency healthcare services are rendered by a service provider which did not sign an agreement with the Fund, the insured person is entitled to services which are indispensable.
An insured person also chooses his/her doctor, nurse or midwife in the basic healthcare system by submitting a written declaration.
An insured person without a referral from a doctor in a basic healthcare system may use health services provided by the following specialists: gynaecologists and midwives, dentists, venereologists, oncologists, ophthalmologists, psychiatrists, and health services for persons suffering from tuberculosis or infected with HIV, war invalids, persons dependent on alcohol, drugs and psychoactive substances, within the scope of medical detoxification services.
In emergency situations, health services are provided without the required referral.
In the event that the regulations do not provide for an insured person’s participation in costs, health services are provided free of charge. Payment is made for services which are well defined as being not within the health insurance entitlement. These service include: occupational medicine services, health services in health resort hospitals and sanatoriums not connected directly with the reason for which the insured person was originally referred to a spa treatment, a stay in health resort medical care institutions – the insured person bears the cost of travelling to and from a sanatorium, some of the accommodation and board costs in the sanatorium, dental health services other than those defined in the act (or services and dental materials other than those that are deemed to be fundamental ones, in accordance with the Minister of Health’s order), and preventive vaccinations other than those defined in the regulations on infectious diseases and infections.
The provision of orthopedic items and auxiliary means such as prostheses, spectacles, etc., is limited in quantity and part of the cost must be paid.
Free medicine is available to an insured person who is taken into a hospital or another healthcare institution intended for persons requiring 24-hour or daily health services, or for medical, nursing, diagnostic and rehabilitation services rendered by persons authorized to provide such services under health insurance, as well as for first aid provided by these persons. In order to buy medicine at a discount, a prescription issued by a doctor accredited to the National Health Fund is required. Prescriptions issued by doctors not accredited to the National Health Fund may have to be paid in full.
An insured person, based on the recommendation of a healthcare doctor, is entitled to free transport by an ambulance, including an air ambulance, to the nearest healthcare facility providing services in the necessary area, and to return transport, if immediate treatment in the healthcare facility is necessary or continuity of treatment is required.
An insured person, based on the doctor’s recommendation, is entitled to free transport by ambulance, in the event of a motor system dysfunction leading to the inability to use public transport, in order to undergo a treatment at the nearest healthcare facility that provides services within the required scope, and to return transport.
The National Health Fund does not finance the cost of an insured person’s treatment or diagnostic tests outside the country, except the costs of healthcare services rendered to the insured in another EU or EEA member state, in accordance with the community regulations on the co-ordination of social security systems.
The Minister of Health may refer an insured person to travel abroad for carrying out treatment or diagnostic tests which are unavailable in the country. The cost of treatment or diagnostic tests as well as the cost of transport to the place of treatment abroad and to the place of treatment or residence within the country are financed from the state budget.
All insured persons pay the same amount of an obligatory or voluntary contribution. It currently comprises 9% of the base for calculation (e.g. revenue less social insurance contributions).
Health insurance contributions are collected by employers, social insurance institutions, retirement/pension institutions and social security centres, schools and universities, etc. (contribution payers).
The basic document confirming health insurance cover is the health insurance card. At present, the specimen and the method of issuing and revoking this card have not yet been defined. Until they have received a health insurance card, insured persons, in order to be covered by health insurance, can prove their identity with such documents as an insurance card, monthly report forms for insured persons (RMUA) issued by the Social Insurance Institution or transfer slips of a retirement or old-age pension.
- 24-hour medical information (e.g. on the nearest healthcare institutions) – Tel. 9439,
- national 24-hour ambulance hotline – Tel. 112.
The private medical insurance market is still quite unpopular in Poland. Most of medical institutions are publicly owned and offer high level of medical services, especially in an emergency situation you will find it the most effective; however the basic services, such as GP visits, are usually overfilled and you could expect long waiting periods and queues. It is very popular among polish citizens to pay public insurance for hospital visits but for GP, dentist and other basic medical services, use private medical sector and pay full fee.
Below you will find the list of private medical insurance examples:
http://ubezpieczeniezdrowotne.com.pl/DoPobrania.html
http://www.signal-iduna.com/ (the monthly fees starting from 50 PLN)
http://www.allianz.pl/x_main.php?id_kategorii=492&id_tematu=4
|