Health discrimination

According to 2005 Social Diagnosis, a report from the Council of Social Monitoring, last year almost 40 percent of households paid for healthcare services from their own funds. Since 2000 this tendency has been on the rise, as is the number of patients who can't afford additional payments.

"Our society is aging and by 2020 the elderly will account for 17 percent of Polish society. Reforming healthcare should be the government's priority. We need radical changes and not just superficial treatment in the atmosphere of great reforms," says Andrzej Malinowski, president of the Confederation of Polish Employers (KPP).

According to KPP, the key to improving the situation lies with private healthcare providers. Despite being more efficient than their public-sector counterparts, they are discriminated against by public entities.

"Even though private and public entities should be treated as equal in the process of signing contracts with the National Health Fund, the discrimination is blatant. Last year in the Mazovian region, private entities had a two-percent share of hospital services and the overall value of contracts for private hospitals and clinics amounted to zł.46 million. This year it will be further reduced to zł.37 million," Malinowski stresses.