Insured through work: the NFZ

Public health care in Poland is financed through the National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, NFZ). Health contributions are paid to the NFZ, which in turn pays for care. Most people are insured compulsorily through work, including employees, people on agency or mandate (zlecenie) contracts, business owners and farmers, alongside groups such as pensioners, students and the registered unemployed.

An employee does not apply separately. ZUS explains that a person becomes insured when the employer registers them for health insurance. People with no compulsory basis for cover, for instance during unpaid leave or under some contract types, can buy voluntary NFZ insurance through a regional branch of the fund.

Who pays the 9% health contribution

In 2026, the health contribution for an employee is generally 9% of the assessment base, and ZUS states that it is financed entirely by the insured person. The employer’s part is administrative: as the payer, it deducts the contribution from pay and sends it to ZUS.

The base is salary after the employee’s own pension, disability and sickness contributions have come off. The yearly ceiling that caps pension contributions does not apply to the health contribution, so it keeps running on higher salaries. Rates and bases are set by law and can change, so check the current figures.

Employer duties beyond health insurance

Alongside health insurance, the employer registers the worker for the four social insurance branches run by ZUS: old-age pension, disability pension, sickness and accident insurance.

Polish law does not require employers to buy private medical cover. The Labour Code does, however, require them to fund occupational medicine, meaning the pre-employment and periodic medical examinations employees must have. That cost belongs to the Polish employer whichever setup you use.

Private medical packages and the tax rule

Employer-paid private medical packages, known as pakiety medyczne or abonament medyczny, are a common benefit in Poland, and the government’s family-and-work portal publishes guidance on how employers can fund them.

A package that goes beyond what the employer is legally obliged to provide counts as taxable employee income, a benefit in kind, following a 2010 resolution of Poland’s supreme administrative court (II FPS 1/10). Care the employer must provide by law, such as occupational medicine, is not treated as the employee’s income. Factor that tax effect into the offer before you present a package to a candidate.

Adding family members to the employee’s cover

Relatives with no insurance of their own can join the employee’s NFZ cover at no extra cost: a spouse, children, and parents or grandparents living in the same household. The employee reports them on the ZUS ZCNA form and should tell the employer within 7 days. Unmarried partners do not count as family members for this purpose.

Children are generally covered up to 18, or up to 26 while in education. The cover hangs on the employee, so if the employee loses NFZ entitlement, family members registered through them lose it too. Separately, Polish citizens under 18 and pregnant or postpartum women are entitled to NFZ care whatever their insurance status, and the NFZ issues the European Health Insurance Card to insured people for trips within the EU and EFTA.

Employer setups, contractors and where an international plan fits

Whether the employee sits on your own Polish entity’s payroll or with an employer of record, the Polish employer registers them with ZUS, and that registration is what makes them NFZ-insured. Employer of record and staffing setups in Poland are regulated, so check the structure, the current rates and the tax on any medical package with a local adviser or tax professional before the hire; our guide to health coverage for EOR and contractors abroad shows who arranges cover under each route. A self-employed contractor working business-to-business pays their own health contribution as a business owner.

Because NFZ cover comes with that compulsory registration, an international plan is best treated as an addition to it rather than a replacement. The insurer’s home base also matters. The financial supervisor KNF says insurers from outside the EU and EEA may operate in Poland only through a main branch it has authorised, while EU and EEA insurers may sell through a branch or cross-border once their home regulator has notified KNF. UK insurers lost their EU passport for Poland from 1 January 2021.

Asking us for a benefits partner introduction

When the question is health cover for someone in Poland, our part is the introduction. We can put you in touch with a benefits partner that works on health coverage for international and remote teams. Send the city or region where the person lives, your headcount abroad, whether relatives are on their NFZ cover and how they are engaged through the quote form on this page, and we will forward it. Eligibility, plan options and pricing are for the partner and the insurer to decide.

Planning hires in several countries? Compare them from the international health insurance overview, or browse the wider set of topics on the employee benefits hub.

A few useful answers

Common questions

Does the employer pay the 9% health contribution in Poland?

No. In 2026 the health contribution is generally 9% of the assessment base and is financed entirely by the employee. The employer deducts it from pay and sends it to ZUS.

Are private medical packages taxed in Poland?

Yes. A package that goes beyond what the employer must provide by law is taxable employee income as a benefit in kind. Occupational medicine the employer is required to fund is not.

Can an international plan replace NFZ cover?

It is best treated as a top-up. Registration with ZUS makes the employee NFZ-insured, and the health contribution is compulsory.

Can family members join a Polish employee’s NFZ cover?

Yes, relatives with no insurance of their own, such as a spouse, children, and parents or grandparents in the same household, at no extra cost through the ZUS ZCNA form. Unmarried partners do not qualify.

Can an insurer from outside the EU cover an employee in Poland?

Only through a main branch authorised by KNF, Poland’s financial supervisor. EU and EEA insurers may sell after their home regulator notifies KNF.

International Health Insurance for Remote Employees in Poland