Private gets popular

Over the last 12 months, some 30 percent of Poles have used private heath care. The treatment cost each patient some zł.298 on average, or roughly zł.25 per month. This amount includes additional contributions to services included in the public health-care system. Around 10 percent of Poles spend zł.500 on private health care.

Stanisław Borkowski, director of the health-insurance bureau at PZU Życie, says that the number of people who decide to pay for health care is increasing. "Those who spend more than zł.500 per year are also growing in number," says Borkowski.

A recent PZU survey shows that 25 percent of the population is considering buying private health-insurance policies. Some 90 percent of the population is willing to pay up to zł.44 per month, every third person would pay up to zł.60, and every fifth person would pay more than zł.130 per month.

According to Małgorzata Bombol from the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), there are three factors which will influence the growth of demand for private health insurance: "First is the patients' fear of the public health-care system, second are the consumption aspirations connected with the service and standard, and third is the growing wealth of society," says Bombol.

In 2005, Health Minister Zbigniew Religa announced that the government would introduce alternative private health insurance. Currently, the government is still trying to drum up enough public support to introduce it. However, insurance companies are not waiting for the government's decision. Sensing a chance for more revenue, they are continuing to introduce new products.