Part of National Health Fund bill is deemed unconstitutional

Health Minister Leszek Sikorski and NFZ president Krzysztof Panas said after the verdict that "nothing will change this year in the health care system," while a new, improved bill will come into force starting January 1, 2005. "It is necessary to create a new legal framework concerning the health care system. The verdict does not outline what the model should be: centralized or decentralized, budget-funded or insurance-funded. Each selected model has to be consistent with the constitution," announced Marek Safjan, the head of the Constitutional Tribunal. Safjan justified his verdict by stating that the bill creates a public institution which is unable to function properly and honestly. It also violates regulations of the nation by not granting equal rights of health care to the public. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.1; Rzeczpospolita, p. A1) A.K.