Dla Pacjenta

You can obtain treatment in your new place of residence at the cost of the National Health Fund if you are entitled to healthcare benefits in Poland.

When you are entitled to healthcare benefits in Poland

You are entitled to healthcare benefits when:

• you are insured, e.g. you are working, you are a pensioner, you are insured as a family member of a working person, etc.
• you do not have insurance but are entitled to treatment on the basis of special entitlements, such as children under 18 years of age who cannot be registered for insurance by a parent or grandparent, a student who has completed or discontinued studies within 6 months, etc.

You can also register your family members for health insurance. You can do this through the contribution payer, who will register the person with the Social Insurance Institution. The contribution payer pays your health insurance contributions on your behalf. This is either:

• your employer – if you are an employee,
• the Social Insurance Institution – if it pays you a pension,
• you or your accountant – if you are self-employed.

What you are entitled to when you change your country of permanent residence

If you change your place of residence permanently, you are entitled to treatment to a much greater extent than under the EHIC. The doctor will not assess whether the treatment is necessary before you return to Poland or whether it can take place after your return. You will be able to obtain planned treatment that is not covered by the EHIC.

You will obtain treatment according to the rules that apply in your country of residence. This means that you must take into account the fact that you may have to pay for some or all of the treatment, if such rules apply in the country concerned. For more information on the rules, please see the ‘Rules in individual countries’ tab.

If you change your place of residence, you will not lose your entitlement to treatment in Poland either. During any stay in the country, you will be able to obtain the treatment you need.

Make an application to us for an S1 document ‘Registration for health care coverage’. The S1 document confirms health insurance with the National Health Fund abroad.

Please note. If you take up a job or start an economic activity abroad, you cannot benefit from Polish health insurance. Exceptions are posted employees and employees in the civil service or diplomacy.

Who is entitled to the S1 document

We will issue an S1 document to you if you meet the following conditions:

• you are entitled to healthcare benefits in Poland and you will not lose this entitlement when you move abroad,
• you officially change your place of residence.

When you change your place of residence, you may lose your entitlement to healthcare benefits in Poland, among other things because:

• you start working or conducting an economic activity in your new country of residence,

• your health insurance in Poland depends on whether you live in Poland, e.g. a voluntary health insurance contract, the entitlement to treatment due to pregnancy,
• you are registered with the employment service as an unemployed person.

Report the change of residence to the Social Insurance Institution through your contribution payer who pays health insurance contributions on your behalf. This is either:

• your employer – if you are an employee,
• the Social Insurance Institution – if it pays you a pension,
• you or your accountant – if you are self-employed.

How to apply for the S1 document

To obtain the S1 document, download and complete the Application for the S1 document for a person resident in another EU/EFTA Member State. Then send the application to the appropriate provincial branch of the National Health Fund.

Contact details of provincial branches of the National Health Fund

An authorised person can also submit the application on your behalf.

Please note that the reverse of the application will provide information on how to complete the application and the documents required. Read it carefully before submitting your application.

Check the status of your case

When does the S1 document expire?

We will issue the S1 document:

• with no time limit, from the date on which you officially report the change of your place of residence.
• for a fixed period, only if the date of expiry of entitlement is known.

Please note. If you return to Poland permanently, inform the provincial branch of the National Health Fund about this.

What if you receive a notice stating that the S1 document has been issued, but you do not have the document?

Have you received a letter saying that the S1 document has been issued but the document is not in the envelope? It means that we have sent the S1 document electronically to the institution you indicated in your application.

In this case, you must contact the institution and obtain from them a local document that confirms your entitlement to benefits.

To obtain treatment, you must first register your S1 document.

If we have already issued a paper document or sent it electronically to an institution of the country concerned, contact that institution to determine how your S1 document is to be registered. Once you have registered, you will receive a country specific document to produce at the healthcare facility.

If you want to change the institution in your country of residence where you register your S1 document, apply for a new document. At the same time as issuing the paper S1 document, the provincial branch of the National Health Fund informs the institution of your place of residence, which you indicate in the application for the S1 document, about your entitlement.

Each Member State determines the procedure for registration of the S1 document independently. The institution may refuse to register the document if it finds that you are not entitled to the benefit in question. This will happen, for example, when:

• you are working or conducting an economic activity in that country,
• you are not proven to be a permanent resident of that country,
• the person named as a family member does not fulfil the conditions to be entitled to health insurance.

You can only obtain treatment in a public healthcare facility. If you are confused about where to apply, please see the details of treatment in the countries of residence. You will also find contact details for the local authority that will help you.

How to obtain health insurance under the S1 document for your family members who change their place of residence with you

The institution registering the S1 document issued to you as the main insured person decides who will be entitled to treatment in the country of residence as a family member.

Each EU/EFTA Member State determines the definition of a family member independently. It may therefore turn out that in your country of residence, health insurance is not available to a person who, according to Polish law, may be insured as a family member, e.g. parents or children over 18 years of age who continue their education.

How to obtain an S1 document for family members

You do not have to make an additional application for S1 documents for the family members you are moving with. To ensure that they have access to healthcare, report to your country of residence, when registering your S1 document, that you also want to register entitlements for your family members. Provide their details including their PESEL.

The institution of the place of residence will check which of the persons you have indicated meets the conditions to be reported as a family member. It will then apply to the National Health Fund to issue documents that will confirm the health insurance of these persons.

If the institution refuses to apply to the National Health Fund, contact us as soon as possible.

Please note. We can only confirm the entitlement of your family members if they are reported to your insurance. You report them to the Social Insurance Institution through your contribution payer, who pays the health insurance contributions on your behalf. This is either:

• your employer – if you are an employee,
• the Social Insurance Institution – if it pays you a pension,
• you or your accountant – if you are self-employed.

How to obtain health insurance under the S1 document for your family members who change their place of residence without you

If a person who is reported by you for insurance in Poland moves to another EU or EFTA Member State, they must apply for the S1 themselves (see ‘How to obtain the S1 document’ for details).

The institution registering the S1 document issued to the main insured person decides who will be entitled to treatment in the country of residence as a family member.

Each EU/EFTA Member State determines the definition of a family member independently. It may therefore turn out that in the country of residence, health insurance is not available to a person who, according to Polish law, may be insured as a family member, e.g. parents or children over 18 years of age who continue their education.

Please note. We can only confirm the entitlement of your family members if they are reported to your insurance. You report them to the Social Insurance Institution through your contribution payer, who pays the health insurance contributions on your behalf. This is either:

• your employer – if you are an employee,
• the Social Insurance Institution – if it pays you a pension,
• you or your accountant – if you are self-employed.

Please note.  If parents live in different EU/EFTA countries and have their own insurance titles, they cannot independently choose their child's country of insurance. Child should be reported for health insurance by the parent with which their child lives. We will issue an S1 document for a child living in another EU/EFTA country only if neither parent has their own title of insurance in that country.  If they have such a title, we will refuse to issue an S1 document.  Then it will be necessary to report the child for insurance in the country where the child lives.

You will lose your entitlement to benefits from the National Health Fund under the S1 document when:

• you start working or conducting an economic activity in your country of residence,
• you are receiving a Polish pension and you become entitled to a pension in your country of residence,
• you lose your entitlement to healthcare benefits in Poland because, for example, you stop working or suspend your economic activity, receive unpaid leave or lose your status as a farmer,
• you report your change of residence and indicate your Polish address to the payer who pays contributions on your behalf in Poland, e.g. your employer or the Social Insurance Institution.

The entitlement will expire 30 days after the compulsory insurance ceases, e.g. when:

• your employment contract, contract of mandate or appointment is terminated,
• you end your service as a soldier or civil servant,
• you are granted unpaid leave for more than 30 days,
• you close or de-register your economic activity,
• you lose your status as a farmer,
• you lose your entitlement to a Polish pension,
• you lose your entitlement to a social benefit other than unemployment benefit, pension or retirement pension, e.g. pre-retirement benefit or care benefit.

When your entitlement to healthcare benefits in the National Health Fund expires, this entitlement also expires for your family members whom you have reported for insurance.

If we have issued you with an S1 document and you have also registered your family members in your country of residence, please inform us of any changes to your insurance situation and that of your family members.

Once you lose your entitlement to benefits in Poland, your S1 document will no longer be valid from that moment on and will no longer constitute grounds for treatment at the cost of the National Health Fund.

Examples of such material changes that may affect your entitlement include:

• changing country of residence,
• taking up work in another EU or EFTA Member State,
• obtaining a pension from an EU/EFTA Member State other than Poland,
• losing the status of family member according to the legislation of the country of residence.

If you have changed your place of residence and have not applied for an S1 document before you leave, you can use your EHIC until the formalities are completed.

Please note. The EHIC entitles you only to essential and unplanned healthcare benefits. The scope of healthcare benefits will be limited compared to entitlements under the S1 document.

It may also happen that the institutions in your country of residence do not want to recognise the EHIC because you are only entitled to use the card when you are temporarily in that country.