Health Care Quality in Poland - NFZ vs Private

Looking on opinions on quality of health care in Poland, NFZ vs Private - in particular on orthopedic surgery. I'm in need of an ACL reconstruction and am not sure whether to go private or through ZUS as I heard the national system isn't well funded. I've spoken to 20 differed orthopedic centers in the region and none of their doctors will consider doing a surgery through NFZ. I'd prefer not to pay out 10-14K for the cost of surgery privately (average price in Krakow) as it would require taking out a loan. If anyone has 1st or 2nd hand experience, would be very interested in hearing it.

The public health care is now better than it was in the past.
However I don't trust NFZ' dentists for example - private specialist in the dentistry field are still affordable and of good quality.
Another major drawback of the public healthcare is long waiting time and lines.
I use NFZ just for basic family care, labs, some check-ups. Then I look for specialists in the private sphere.
Of course, more serious treatment is already expensive in private, so hospitals, etc. - such facilities rather with the NFZ deal.

Have you looked into the EU health care directive? It might be a solution for you.

//europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/health/planned-healthcare/expenses-reimbursements/index_en.htm

Impossible. It is fully refunded by NFZ. The only problem is a long waiting time - even a few years in unlucky regions. Probably you wanted to say: none of their doctors will consider doing a surgery through NFZ within a month or two. That would be closer to the truth.


Of course, nobody wants to pay through the nose if it can be avoided. But you need to estimate if the delay won`t cost you more than 10K.