Health cover for a married couple in Poland

Don't give me new ideas please lol, these countries have a lot to offer, depending on what your looking for hmm (get the point) I'm not looking for a free ride and paying 400 od zlote won't send me bankrupt.. I'm just making the point that Poland should dangle a few carrots for those loaded up and offer a few incentives.. Going by other peoples standards, the polish system is most unfair, why are high income earners charged more for health cover than lower income earners, they get exactly the same service, have to wait and queue up, no special treatment. I make the point again that a lot of countries offer free health to newly arrived, I am however a polish citizen returning to Poland, there is a bit of difference.

Health care for a measly 400 PLN a month IS a huge carrot. That's a hefty subsidy on the part of the Polish state.

Seriously, bud, you are vastly overestimating your value to "the local economy". And I mean VASTLY. You have an arrogant sense of entitlement. Again, if this is the attitude you are coming to Poland with, your going to have a miserable time there. Best forget about it and try one of the more welcoming countries instead.

I'm saying this to spare you a very unpleasant experience. Good luck with your retirement. I hope you find a place where you can fit in and thrive.

For somebody living in Poland yes.


One person spending his lifetime savings maybe not, if there very thousands in my position yes


I will certainly be on my guard looking out for nasty people like you when in Poland, you might try looking out beyond the square when making such assumptions,

Like I mentioned before the Brits had to put up with 2 million poles and they made no great fuss... no one is looking out for freebies..just a entitlement.

More so for someone who has never put even a dime into the system in their entire lifetime.


Precisely. What makes you think you are "entitled" to anything? What have you ever done to earn this "entitlement"?


You'll soon find out that I am one of the nice guys. At least I was kind enough to take the time to tell you to seriously consider making alternative plans.

Sorry, but you have an extremely warped sense of perspective. You're in for a very rude awakening. And, if anything, that is one thing Poland specializes in delivering. With glee.

@Firefly


Apart from voting to leave the EU and all...

Being from the UK (though a dual Polish citizen), 400 zł per month sounds like a steal to me, considering how much I pay in National Insurance.

You can take a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.
I wonder how far the original posterr will get in Poland with the attitude of 'entitlement' that he seems to display. It is a case of suck it and see.

If you are a uk pesioner get a s1 form

gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-application-for-healthcare-cover-in-the-european-economic-area-ca8454

If you are not a pensioner then sign on at the employment office in poland , that will give you (and i think your wife) medical cover for free.

Sorry, not after a free ride, just wanting to receive what I am entitled to receive, will pay what is required if I have to, not an issue, I'm sure most people who move to another country check out there entitlements, I am not any different.. I make the point again that I am a Polish citizen.


Dom, It is only non poles who will do that, polish people understand and respect unlike you

Go ahead. It's your life. Some people learn best at the School of Hard Knocks.

OK, as has now been pointed out a number of times, if you don't pay into the healthcare system here, as a resident you won't be entitled to free healthcare here. Instead you will get heavily subsidised health care here.


And again you are told that that doesn't mean you get for free what others have to pay for; instead you get it at a heavily subsidised rate.


a) No it won't: he hasn't paid into the ZUS system and so ZUS won't pay for his healthcare.
b) Even if he had made the minimum contributions, he'd only get a limited period of paid healthcare.

2017/18 the system is transitional to a universal free care for all system, Jan 2017 began some of the changes
zdrowie.trojmiasto.pl/Darmowa-opieka-lekarska-dla-kazdego-n108819.html

To add
Thanks to the amendment of the Act on Health Care Services , signed by President Andrzej Duda on 21st December, primary care clinics will no longer check whether the patient has the right to benefits.

oko.press/ochrona-zdrowia-dla-wszystkich-prawie-bez-ubezpieczenia-lekarz-nas-zbada-szpital-zaplacimy

So a bit like the uk you just say you are registered unemployed they don't check bingo, in 2018 the whole problem of uninsured citizens will go away which is a good thing everyone should have the right to basic healthcare regardless of money, A VERY GOOD LIBERAL PRINCIPLE implemented by the Pis government.

However, in practice, that means very little as primary care providers (so called "first instance" doctors) are very reluctant to treat anything beyond the basics.


It won't go away. All this reform is doing is providing minimal healthcare to everyone, but the reality is that many clinics simply aren't taking on such patients as the NFZ isn't willing to pay for it. You certainly won't get any specialist care or hospital treatment with this.

Thats the point the NFZ will be liqudated in 2018, the government will pay the healthcare providers direct out of payments made from taxes on the employed.

payments will be made to providers regardless of someones employment status.

To add many are already working the system now they are signing on and just stating they are currently covered by the unemployment office, no one is checking and they are getting treatment, maybe its because i live in the sticks and people are smart at playing the system since the law changed on providers not having to check payment status.

@dolnoslask

That article seems to be about a proposal that was kicked around a year ago. I'm having trouble finding any evidence that it was, or will be, actually implemented. In fact, any search I carry out on the topic leads to this same single article, and nothing else. Did you find anything more concrete than this?

That's not going to happen in 2018. PiS know fine well that any healthcare reform will be political dynamite, especially among older voters, and they've already quite considerably backed off on the idea once they realised just how dangerous it is.


Good luck to them with the NFZ chasing them for payment.


The only thing implemented (in theory) was the 'care first, payment second' approach to make sure that everyone can see the first contact doctor. However, in practice, many clinics are checking for the PESEL as the NFZ seemingly won't pay for those that don't have insurance.

More random articles but i did not save the links, I will dig out more when I get some free time.

What I do know is from a contact in the employment office who confirms that people are as of this year using the law change to get treatment past the old 30 day limit, their understanding is that in 2018 the system will become universal, as always in Poland things can change overnight without any real warning, maybe this will be a good sudden change, maybe it won't turn out to be as expected, we will need to wait and see.

Google "Likwidacja nfz 2018" read the articles I would be interested in your take of the situation as it stands.

One article sums up nicely what I found: "Zbliża się termin zapowiadanej przez rząd likwidacji NFZ. Fundusz powinien zniknąć 1 stycznia 2018. Wciąż jednak brakuje konkretów..."

And another: "Zdrowia będzie postawiony w stan likwidacji, ale nie oznacza to jego likwidacji, będzie kontynuował swoją pracę, dopiero później przejmie ją administracja państwowa - powiedział w piątek w Białymstoku minister zdrowia Konstanty Radziwiłł. Nie podał jednak szczegółów."

So it seems that the NFZ is certainly not being liquidated on said date, in any case. As for anything else, concrete details remain to be released. My guess is that this is just political posturing on the part of PIS, and that nothing will ever come of it.

I read the same, but on the ground where i live a number of councilors and officials are adament that it is going to happen, interesting lets wait and see.

Meantine I guess some people will use the loophole / abbiguity of the situation to continue to get free health care, maybe as Delph said someone will come after them for payment at a later date, but these people have no money to their name so good luck to the komornik (debt collector).

I can always tell when the komornik is in the village, my neighbour has in own sofa in my woodshed to lie low.

The OP, on the other hand, will have savings and, presumably, property that they can take to cover the cost of healthcare provided and any associated fines if he tries to pull a fast one.

Well exactly most of my neighbours live hand to mouth they have no savings and a family cannot be thrown out of their home, so they can play the system and win ( I won't judge them, I don't blame them doing it to get the basic needs of life), on the other hand people like the op and myself with some cash should pay our dues and count ourselves lucky that we are not part of the estimated two million in Poland who have no acess to healthcare.

So the moral is if you have the money then pay, If you dont have the money kombinować (cheat) the system, use the loopholes no one will think bad of you , some officials actualy help those who are in dire need fair play.

Actually, they do check if you have health insurance.
Several years ago I wanted to see a specialist and was told that I didn't have health insurance. It turned out later that my new employer had failed to notice the NFZ about employing me and my health insurance card got invalid.

Things changed this year, well at least in the sticks where I live. not sure about the big cities.

See above posts

"Act on Health Care Services , signed by President Andrzej Duda on 21st December, primary care clinics will no longer check whether the patient has the right to benefits."

We will have to see how this pans out in practice. I think that it is very unlikely that a person who has not contributed a bean will get the medical attention they need. I could be wrong - I was once. I will search on websites to see what the position is.

What will happen is that they will be able to receive minimal care, but they won't receive anything more without insurance.

So if someone needs painkillers, they'll get them, but they won't get a visit to the specialist to establish what the problem is.

Like everything else - there are as many opinions as there are people. However, one thing is absolutely certain here. We can express our opinions of what someone could or should do - they will do what they want at the end.

BUT and this is the greatest BUT of all times - everything is fine till he/she needs medical or hospital treatment. Then and only then will that person realize how things are run in Poland.

That is the main problem. If you have a cold, you can get some otc medicine. Even if you need to see a doctor, either a GP or a specialist, you can pay and see one.

But they may need a heart surgery (or any other surgery) and will be charged thousands.
Even if someone is fit and healthy, they may break a leg.
They will get medical help but then they will a bill.
As far as the changes in the NFZ are concerned, we need to wait and see.

Exactly. That certainly won't be covered by the government, and there's no way the NFZ is going to let some foreigner away without paying the hospital bills.

This music to my ears, further enquires reveal that I would receive free hospital cover, its praise the lord and pass the vodka, alleluia.. I must however thank people like Delphiandomine and terri, without your contributions this would not have been possible... thank you


Thousands is not much chop for somebody who has lived away from Poland... one years nfz at 400 per month adds up

On what basis? If you're relying on the S1 form, be aware that Brexit will almost certainly end that.


It certainly does, which is why Poland doesn't go handing out free healthcare.