Almost immediately after the start of the new year, Poland found itself engulfed in confusion due to changes the government had implemented to prescription-drug laws.
With doctors protesting the changes, many pharmacists and patients have been left confused – and in many cases extremely frustrated.
Doctors, obliged by the new regulations to state the exact level of reimbursement a patient is entitled to on a prescription (and also to verify if the patient is insured), have refused to do so, saying they simply do not have direct access to that information. In protest, many have started issuing prescriptions with a stamp saying: “reimbursement level to be decided by NFZ,” which is the National Health Fund.
As a result of the confusion, some pharmacies have chosen to play it safe, in many cases charging the full amount to patients who are entitled to steep discounts on the drugs they buy. Situations have even been reported in which cancer patients have been asked to pay up to a thousand times more than they should for drugs.
The government has responded by easing the new regulations a little, saying doctors would no longer be punished (as the new regulations had previously stated) for miscalculating the reimbursement level, or for not verifying if a patient is insured. But doctors have nevertheless continued their protests.
Off with his head
As could be expected, the main opposition party – Law and Justice (PiS) – has demanded that the health minister, Bartosz Ar³ukowicz, be stripped of his office, placing the responsibility for the mess on his shoulders. PiS's assessment of the situation isn't, however, entirely accurate. Mr Ar³ukowicz took over in November and it was his predecessor, current Sejm Speaker Ewa Kopacz, who prepared the reforms.
Two other parliamentary clubs, Solidarity Poland and Palikot's Movement, have said they will support PiS in its no-confidence vote. However, the Democratic Left Alliance has said it would rather amend the bill than dismiss Mr Ar³ukowicz, meaning the opposition won't have enough votes to topple the incumbent health minister, who belongs to the ruling Civic Platform party.
Mr Ar³ukowicz is expected to survive his baptism of fire, but let's hope the other reforms which the government is planning – such as an extension of the retirement age for men and women and the elimination of state-funded privileges for certain groups of society – will not be as poorly planned and executed as this one.
