Poland’s National Health Fund (NFZ) has exhausted its funding limits, with some procedures postponed until 2026, and concerned patients are sounding the alarm.

According to information provided by the Supreme Medical Council, many medical facilities have been limiting the number of patients they admit for several weeks, both for elective procedures and more serious conditions such as cancer, reports Do Rzeczy.

The situation is most difficult in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, but Jakub Kosikowski, spokesman for the Supreme Medical Council, notes that similar reports are also coming in from other regions of the country. 

“Since the National Health Fund hasn’t paid for several months, hospitals have begun to impose limits on their own. They are no longer able to finance treatment,” explains Kosikowski.

For example, the suspension of new patient admissions to the drug program for rheumatoid arthritis has patients being told that they will not be able to begin treatment until after the new year, when funding becomes available.

Last week, the National Health Fund received an additional PLN 3.5 billion (€820 million), reducing this year’s deficit to approximately PLN 10.5 billion. 

The total amount of subsidies for the National Health Fund in 2025 has already reached PLN 31 billion, and is expected to be increased in the near future by another PLN 1 billion from bonds issued at the Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s behest.

Despite these steps, the financial situation remains difficult. According to forecasts from the Ministry of Health, the healthcare system’s funding shortfall could reach as much as PLN 23 billion by 2026, meaning that funding problems could worsen in the coming years.