Treatment abroad is becoming more and more popular. Do you know when the costs of the entire treatment are covered by the National He alth Fund? To be treated in the EU for free, you need a free European He alth Insurance Card (EHIC).
Where are we going abroad for treatment?
Poles go for treatment to Germany, Great Britain, Denmark, Austria, France, the Netherlands, sometimes to the United States (in 2011 - 7 patients). The state budget mainly funds unique procedures in the field of orthopedics and traumatology of the musculoskeletal system, obstetrics and gynecology (perinatology), clinical genetics, cardiosurgery, transplantology, and oncological radiotherapy. The cost of one treatment varies from several hundred zlotys to several million.
We also send samples of genetic material to foreign institutions with experience in diagnosing a very rare genetic disease, if this cannot be done in Poland. Pregnant women are sent to Belgium for fetal procedures to correct a fetal congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Abroad, many severe congenital skeletal defects in children are treated (Germany, United States). There is a joint reconstruction center in Florida when, for example, some bone is missing. Young patients come there from all over the world, also from Poland.
A person suffering from cystic fibrosis was referred for treatment abroad and had to have two organs transplanted at the same time. This type of surgery is extremely expensive - the NHF paid about PLN 4 million for lung and liver transplantation in a patient operated in France.
Documents facilitating treatment abroad
Treatment abroad was to be facilitated by the EU cross-border directive. The rule is simple: you get treatment wherever you want, and the National He alth Fund returns the money in the amount you pay for it in Poland. If the procedure abroad is more expensive, you pay the difference out of your own pocket. However, 7 EU countries, including Spain and Poland, opposed unlimited access to benefits abroad.
The he alth department decided that our budget would not be able to withstand it. The directive will come into force on October 25 and then, according to the Ministry of He alth, medical tourism will start in Poland. In Poland, you wait months for doctors and some tests.
In order to be treated abroad, you must obtain the consent of the National He alth Fund
In order to prevent the budget earmarked for he alth care from being "blown up", the ministry is preparing a list of services for which you will need to obtain approval from the National He alth Fund before your departure. If the fund refuses, the patient will not be reimbursed.
The list of services requiring consent will mainly include services deemed costly. The consent will also be needed for a trip involving more than 24-hour stay in the hospital. An amount to be earmarked for financing treatment guaranteed by the directive abroad is being considered. After it is exhausted, the National He alth Fund will be able to refuse to reimburse the costs of consultations or treatments outside the country.
Without such a restriction, a patient treating abroad would collect funds allocated for domestic treatment, and this would extend the queues for specialists and surgeries. Organizations representing the interests of patients are of a different opinion - they believe that patients have limited and restricted access to treatment.
EKUZ - free European He alth Insurance Card
As part of the NFZ insurance, we can use urgent medical assistance in the European Union, as well as in Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. Before leaving, you need to get a free European He alth Insurance Card (EHIC) at the NFZ branch, which en titles you to receive the necessary medical assistance in the country where you are staying. However, it should be remembered that in most EU countries, the insured partially pay for treatment from their own resources and these fees are not reimbursed by the National He alth Fund.
The he alth insurance institution in the country where we used medical assistance settles accounts with the National He alth Fund without our participation. Some institutions in the EU, e.g. in Spain, do not accept EHIC cards and charge fees for applying a plaster or suturing a wound, and it takes up to several months to recover the money.
If you pay for hospitalization in some country, we will also have to pay. So it is better to take out medical cost insurance additionally.
Who comes to visit Poland?
The Ministry of Economy has decided to financially support the development of medical tourism in Poland as part of the project "Promotion of the Polish economy on international markets" (2012-2015). Given the statistics, these decisions are easy to understand. In 2011, 300,000 patients were treated in Poland. foreigners who spent at least PLN 800 million on treatments.
It is estimated that the number of medical tourists will increase by 10-20%. annually. Information portals promoting Polish medical institutions are very active. - We help in attracting foreign patients by presenting doctor's offices and offersmedical, physician profiles, certificates, prices in 6 languages: Polish, English, German, Russian, Italian and Swedish - says Dariusz Dąbek, vice president of Tourmedica.pl, the leader of medical tourism in Poland. - During the first 3 months of operation, we referred approximately 250 Polish and foreign patients to our clinics.
The cost of the procedures performed ranges from PLN 300 to PLN 20,000. zloty. There are English, Norwegians, Irish, Germans, Belgians and Russians. We had patients from Zambia, Armenia, the United States, Canada, Australia. We estimate that by the end of the year our offer will include over 200 clinics and offices.
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