No ZUS paid (no national insurance) means no NFZ healthcare and (for EU citizens) no EKUZ card in Poland

No ZUS paid (no national insurance) means no NFZ healthcare and (for EU citizens) no EKUZ card in Poland

Good afternoon

This applies to all foreigners it seems, surprisingly including EU citizens from my home country (the UK).

Could someone please confirm the information I received today from ZUS and the NFZ regarding foreign nationals who are resident in Poland (tax resident and ordinarily resident and registered resident) -

namely that 30 days after the foreigner's last ZUS payment month (be that ZUS paid by an employer or ZUS paid by your own self employment business or enterprise) all of your Polish NFZ national health service benefits cease and, should you have the misfortune to take ill on Polish soil, be involved in a road accident, be injured or need medical attention of any kind, the Polish NFZ expect to be paid by you the foreigner on Polish soil. That, I am told, is the case for EU member state foreigners (and presumably other countries too).

additionally, no little blue plastic card for healthcare in EU countries can be issued either, unless ZUS is paid in the month of issue. If there is no ZUS payment the following month, the EKUZ card ceases to be valid 30 days from the previous month's term.

The EKUZ card is the card that gives free healthcare in other EU countries for EU nationals.

Two separate offices told me this means if you are a self-employed person who suspends your business (my situation) all the ZUS you paid before is not considered and you are uninsured until the next time you pay ZUS or get a job that pays your ZUS for you.

If your UK plastic card is no longer valid (because you are considered resident in PL) then essentially you have no healthcare at all unless you pay ZUS 600 or 1200 or whatever it is now or pay the NFZ 378.17zl a month on a contract with them.

ex. Business active until end of March 2016 then suspended or closed = NFZ and EKUZ card invalid from 30 April.
ex. Worked at employer until end of March 2016 then left = ditto

If insufficient ZUS paid, then no unemployment benefit.

Have I got it right? This is what they said -- two separate offices.

I can only say this:
The little blue card is for 'emergencies only'. You are entitled to the same care as any EU national - as long as your payments are up to date. In the country of residence (in your case Poland) in order to receive free health care you MUST have your ZUS up to date. THE UK card is not for 'normal health care' in another country. It is for 'emergencies only' in another country.

Correct.

378zł a month isn't expensive for health insurance though.

It's not really for emergencies only. It's for any treatment you may need from the medical point of view - but not planned treatment. If you, for example, need some kind of an operation, but it's nothing urgent and you can wait with that, you should return to your home country to have it.

The limitation is that this card (EHIC in English, EKUZ in Polish) works only if you are abroad for touristic purposes (and then it's validity is limited to a few months), or you are on an exchange as a student. Probably also if you are employed in your home country and going abroad is a part of your job - I am not sure about that, but it seems logic. It does not work, however, if you are employed in a different country. Then you are subject to the healthcare system of this country and you cannot use EHIC. Or, at least, you shouldn't and it's illegal to do it - in reality it might be possible.

If you are in Poland, you don't have any job (or you work on basis of some types of civil law contracts instead of a normal job contract), you are not a child, not a student, not retired and you are not registered as an unemployed person, then you are right, you don't have any insurance, unless you pay for it voluntarily. If you go to any doctor - you have to pay, and in case of an accident, the emergency and the hospital will issue you a bill.

It applies to the Polish nationals as well, not only to the foreigners.

But in such a situation - from the moment when you become not employed any more - you may be able to get EHIC from the UK, as a tourist. I am not sure about that, though. Maybe there are some restrictions on that and after beying employed in a foreign country, you cannot be treated as travelling touristically to this country in the UK.

BTW car accident is a special case, because then if you have to pay for all the medical treatment, the payment will be anyway covered from the civil liability insurance of the car with which the accident was caused. Unless no such person was determined - then you have a problem.



After a while of rethinking - no, you cannot since you are not insured in the UK. Unless the British regulations give each citizen right to free medical treatment regardless of whether they work or not. Theoretically it might be so, and I have no idea how it is in the UK.

It's a grey area, however as far as I know (but there could of course be exceptions), no British person has been billed for their healthcare since 1948 and even if someone was neither paying their stamps nor registered in the UK as unemployed and used their EU health card abroad for emergency treatment, say, in Poland, the NHS would pick up the bill.

They do give you the card even if you aren't paying into the system or claiming any benefit.

I think that's the clue. If you do not pay into the system, are not registered officially as unemployed - then you are not entitled to get this card.

The wording on the card is 'emergency', i.e. something not anticipated and not foreseen. Generally, people have it so that they are covered in addition to their normal holiday insurance when they go away on holiday. It does not insure you when you are classed as officially WORKING in another country..

If you are working in another country (say a GB resident officially working in Poland) then you should be covered by the Polish system for all your health requirements (planned, unplanned, emergencies, tests, doctors visits).

Correct.
According to this link, entitlement is based on insurability under EU law, which is determined by residency and not past/present payments of NI contributions or UK tax.

ehic.org.uk/Internet/eligibilityhelp.do


I renewed mine a few months ago and nowhere on the card does it say 'emergency'. It is for if you are unfortunate enough to fall ill abroad, obviously including medical emergency. I was unsure of it's limitations until recently, when I asked on a thread about the specifics of it's coverage, as it has been said that in certain cases, a contribution towards treatment can sometimes occur.

It also covers treatment for pre-existing medical conditions.