Hospitals across Poland are suspending admissions of new patients, including those with cancer, because the National Health Fund (NFZ) has exhausted its annual limits. Scheduled procedures are being postponed even until 2026. “And billions are flowing in wide streams to pro-government media outlets that are being liquidated…,” MP Olga Semeniuk-Patkowska remarked sarcastically.

Due to a lack of funds, hospitals themselves are introducing restrictions – even on services that until now were not subject to limits. The spokesperson for the Supreme Medical Council, Jakub Kosikowski, warns that reports are coming in from all over the country. New patients with rheumatoid arthritis are being told: “We won’t start treatment until the new year.”

“The Supreme Medical Council is receiving reports about hospitals that have stopped admitting new patients – including, unfortunately, cancer patients – and are postponing treatment until next year,”

Dr. Kosikowski warns.

Medical facilities can no longer afford to keep financing the NFZ, which has not been making payments for months. The government has already injected 31 billion PLN in subsidies, including 3.5 billion last week, and soon another 1 billion from bonds. The budget gap has narrowed to 10.5 billion PLN, but that is only a drop in the ocean of needs. The Ministry of Health estimates that in 2026, the shortfall will reach 23 billion PLN.

But the money that cannot be found for healthcare has surfaced elsewhere.

“And billions are flowing in wide streams to pro-government media outlets that are being liquidated…”

commented Olga Semeniuk-Patkowska (Law and Justice party).