Health Minister blasts NFZ for skimping on hospital spending

According to the Ministry, this practice deteriorates the already poor situation of Polish hospitals. NFZ denies the accusations, saying that it does not have any hidden capital. Meanwhile, MZ claims that the Fund, which has zł.33 billion at its disposal, has a surplus of at least zł.400 million. According to Jerzy Miller, NFZ president, most of the money treated by the Ministry as a surplus has already been earmarked to particular hospitals or to paying the NFZ's debt to the budget. "Since the beginning of this year we spent zł.90 million more on medicals than we projected in the financial plan. The expenses will be even higher, and if we do not keep some reserves we will not be able to subsidize pharmaceuticals," he added. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A3) A.F.