Health care in Poland for ex-pats

I'm an English ex-pat - I spend most of my time in Poland (at least 8 months a year).

The question is, am I entitled to medical care in a public hospital in Poland? I pay voluntary NI contributions to the UK system and I'm up to date with them.

If not, what the heck should I do? Private medical insurance?

Grateful for any advice!!!!!

I think yes, if you are insured in one of EU countries you should have health care in Polnand , but I dont know the details ...

You should have your "European Health Card" (This replaced the E111). If you are paying NI contributions in the UK you are covered for treatment throughout the EU. This includes all forms of treatment but excludes repatriation to the UK by air ambulance etc, for this you will need private insurance.

Thanks for the advice Lukasz, Avalon.

Hope you don't mind but I decided to check the National Insurance helpline just to be double certain. The Inland Revenue seem fairly unanimous that since I'm currently resident in Poland, my British contributions unfortunately don't cover me for hospital treatment. The E111 is really only for tourists.

If I weren't working, I could fill in an 'E106' and I would be covered, although this is really for people who are going abroad to retire.

So - looks like I have to start paying ZUS contributions. Bleedin racket or what?

Not sure if this site would be of any help to you: statmedica.com

Thanks! Good article -

statmedica.com/hospitals.php?art=aw1

Just a thought, if you go self-employed here, there is a offer on at the moment where you only pay 50% of your zus (National Insurance) contributions for the 1st two years. And then you will be automatically covered for health care along with claiming a lot of tax back for expenses.

Poland and the UK have an agreement where all essential health care is free. So poles can use the NHS, and i can use the polish health service. didnt know about it untill i had to go to hospital after dislocating my shoulder-ouch:(

get a private medical care mate the public one here in Poland is real bad even private is bad

I have medicover and still not good call another day for a specialist had to wait for a week

crazy here

The Yanks should take notice about how ****** socialized, "FREE", medicine is. That left-wing-pinko-loon in the White House is trying to ram that crap up the backsides of the ignorants there.

Nothing wrong with the French system, and it's regarded as being one of the finest in the world.

....Yeah, The French...the gleaming beacons of socialzed medicine...The champion every socialist swine should aspire to be. .But everything wrong with the Brit and Canadian system....I personally know of people who had to go to VETERINARIANS to have "black" medical care because they could not get a HUMAN doctor appointment. Not one-off occurrences, mind you, either. Pretty F'ing sad, I'd say. Animals often get better care than humans. People should at least get the same level care as animals.

You watch FOX News far too often.

may i ask if u had to show an EHIC card or just your british passport please?

Just the passport, if you need long term treatment, u either have to present your usual details (nip, persol ect), or you may have quite a bill. Emergency treatment is free of course for the Brits, and most people im guessing. I'll try and find out more.

thanks alot dtaylor i need to know this at the moment!!

Only EU members. Everyone else pays full price if you don't have insurance or haven't paid for ZUS.

No problem, if you pay tax, you get the same treatment as everyone else.


Yup, though i need to dig up this info about the Brits here, I forget the agreement to two governments have.

I am not complaining about this fact simply making sure nobody thinks they will get free care when they won't. Funny enough even the crappy, dirty public system hospitals charge as much as the nicer Private places like Damian. If you have to pay might as well go to the nicer place.

We know, you make a good point :)

I meant for visitors>????

Um, you will need european insurance card. Depends on whats wrong, PM me if you like.

Hey! Congratulations! I Guess YOU do too! Good to see you're getting a little culture...

Well, it was actually really difficult to get a straight answer from either the Polish or the British SS so in the end I took citzenship and started paying ZUS. I'm hoping this will cover me if I get hit by a bus or something.

As far as I understand it, when you cease to be UK resident in terms of taxation, then your insurance under the NHS will stop. That's the point when you need to be paying ZUS - but it seems to depend on just how much they bother to check. In theory, only emergency care should be free - follow up care should be provided by the home country. But Brits for certain have been using the EHIC card for routine stuff (I use it to see a doctor here, no problem) and the NFZ appears to be accepting it - so who knows?

The EHIC system is a horrible mess, imo.

In the UK you show them nothing. Whether you are a tourist, an immigrant, a visting worker, a citizen or from the planet Zod, you just turn up at a UK hospital and get treated, no questions asked.

Unlike the US, we don't leave people to die in the street if they are unable to afford health care.