Hospitals to get a budget boost in 2005

The money will be distributed among regions based on the same assumptions as in 2004. However, the amount of transferred funds will be 5% more to each region as compared to the previous year. "We want the head office to have as small amount of funds to distribute as possible," said Balicki. On exactly what health services the money will be spent on is to be decided by the NFZ's regional branches, which were advised by the Health Ministry not to spend less money on any service than they did in 2004. Around zł.400 million was secured in the budget for health services for the uninsured. Most of these funds will be transferred to hospitals. "On average, in 2005 hospitals should receive a tenth more then they did in 2004," Balicki said. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A5) A.K.