What additional fees may the hospital charge? Check the current list and don’t be fooled

Being in hospital is not only associated with great stress. It is also often a burden on the household budget. It involves many different expenses. What can a facility charge fees for, and when should it not? Check it out and don’t let yourself be surprised. It is also worth knowing what to do if an additional fee was charged even though it was unjustified.

What do you have to pay extra for in the hospital? Actual list

In accordance with applicable regulations, a hospital may charge fees for providing certain services or providing various types of facilities. The patient must prepare for the expenses associated with additional care. This concept does not include the provision of health services. This includes, among other things, the parent’s 24-hour stay in the ward (together with the hospitalized child) and family delivery (taking place in the company of the husband, partner or other close person). In these cases, the amount of fees is determined by the management of a given medical facility. This rate must be public (made available to the public, for example on the hospital’s website) and take into account the actual costs incurred by the healthcare entity. The hospital may also charge for:

• watching TV in the hospital room,

• use of the parking lot located at the medical facility,

• leaving outerwear in the hospital cloakroom,

• using the Internet,

• using the hospital buffet,

• providing a single room of a higher standard (this applies especially to maternity wards).

You must also take into account the costs incurred when the hospital makes medical records available for the second or subsequent time. The amount of fees cannot exceed:

• PLN 14.39 (in the case of one page of the copy or extract),

• 50 groszy (for one page of copy or printout),

• PLN 2.88 (if documentation is made available on an IT medium, for example a CD).

Why can’t a hospital charge fees?

Hospitals cannot charge for epidural anesthesia during childbirth, the use of electricity during a stay at the facility, or medications taken during hospitalization. If a patient is asked to incur such costs, he or she has the right to report this fact to the National Health Fund or the Patient Ombudsman. The National Health Fund will consider the complaint and, if it considers it justified, it will impose a contractual penalty on the facility.

The complaint should contain the following information:

• complainant’s details (name, surname, address),

• data of the entity concerned by the complaint,

• description of the situation,

• authorization (if the letter is submitted on behalf of the patient by a third person, for example a spouse).

The appropriate document can be submitted to the provincial branch of the National Health Fund or to the National Health Fund Headquarters – in person or electronically (by sending an e-mail to the address of the relevant branch of the National Health Fund). Their list can be found on the website of the National Health Fund in the “complaints and applications” tab.