Job Discussion Forums

prettyizzy · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 8

Greetings!

1. Am I right in assuming that the school which hires you is responible (by polish labor law) to provide medical insurance for you and your family (i.e. to pay your dues to NFZ)?

2. If you decide to "work on your own", can you join NFZ on your own, or buy some kind of medical insurance?

3. Is the state of healthcare in Poland as bad as I read in the press (shortage of doctors, long waits, low quality of hospitals)? Can someone recommend a good hospital/clinic/doctor in Warszawa or Krakow.

Dziekuje!

cheeseandegg · Joined: 26 Aug 2004 Posts: 58

1. Yes if they're a legit company. State medical care is included in the taxes and social insurance you pay. State healthcare isn't as inclusive as in the UK though so you may have to pay extra for certain drugs, treatments and hospital foods. Thankfully they have state healthcare here unlike the USA where a third of its citizens are denied this basic human right.

2. Yes. If you're self-employed then you pay taxes and social insurance yourself and so have the same rights as an employee.

3. No it's not that bad. Doctors and nurses are very highly trained and all ambulances have qualified paramedics unlike in some Western European countries. There's a shortage of some workers as doctors and nurses have fled to Ireland, Sweden and the UK. The long waits are probably similar to the UK.

You always have the option of private healthcare but I would never accept this and I refused to accept the offer of private medical insurance from my employer on the principle that this is elitist.