NFZ: Spending has to increase to 6 percent of GDP

The Minister of Health Konstanty Radziwiłł said that spending for the National Health Service (NFZ) needs to be notably increased, ideally by as much as 6 percent of Poland's GDP. In a discussion with PAP, the minister noted that he is a proponent of increasing healthcare spending, arguing that it merely reflects the wishes of Polish citizens, who regularly mention good health as the most important value in their lives in studies and polls. "It is obviously crucial that all the funds we have are spent as rationally as possible." he added. Radziwiłł admitted that reaching a spending level of 6 percent would be very difficult to achieve, but that  the Polish government should aspire to doing so, and that he is already preparing some initiatives designed to achieve this. Among them is the idea of "coordinated care", which would allow patients to benefit from holistic care packages instead of using services divided up between various contractors, which Radziwiłł said leads to inefficiency and dangerous gaps in coverage.