Niedofinansowanie ochrony zdrowia w Polsce – wybrane problemy
Underfunding of health care in Poland –selected problems

Summary/Abstract: The share of health spending in GDP in Poland was 6.9% in 2011. This was almost twice less than in many other European countries, such as France, Germany and the Netherlands, also characterized by a much higher level of GDP. Continuous lack of money in Polish health care causes undertaking various austerity measures, which negatively affect health care entities, patients and medical staff. For patients, the most severe consequences of underfunding of health care are long waiting times for specialist doctor advice and specialized diagnostic tests, of up to 5 years. The article presents other selected issues involving the underfunding of health care, such as growing debt of public health care centers or low salaries of medical staff. Then selected solutions to overcome the lack of funds are presented. For example, more funds can be obtained from the corporate sector and the principle of co-payment for medical services may be introduced. Other solutions are the dissemination of private health insurance, as well as health care policy focused on efficiency.

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