New disability assessment panel hearings to be suspended in Poland’s Żywiec — RMF24
In Poland’s Żywiec, after the hearings scheduled for October are held, the disability assessment panel will not organize new hearings until the end of the year due to a lack of funds. This may increase waiting lines for decisions that determine access to benefits, concessions and other forms of support, RMF24 reports.
Adam Szyma, head of the trade union of employees of disability assessment institutions, “Trade Union Alternative,” said that this year they received about 25% of the funds they had requested from the targeted reserve of the state budget. According to him, people in Żywiec currently wait about three months for a decision, and this period may increase after the hearings are suspended. Decisions on possible additional funding for the institution in Żywiec are to be made after October 19.
Local governments cover the shortfall
In Gdańsk, the state subsidy covers only 37% of the declared need. The city co-financed the institution’s work from its own budget, so hearings were neither cancelled nor postponed. As of October 12, 1,890 applications remained unreviewed there, while the average waiting time for a decision was one and a half months.
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In Poznań, it was calculated that state funds would last until mid-November. The institution requested an additional 1.7 million zlotys but received 497,000 zlotys; the shortfall is covered by the county. In Gdynia, the institution received 150,000 zlotys out of the required additional 220,000 zlotys, and hearings continue there without interruption. In the third quarter, 1,614 applications were accepted and 1,615 decisions were issued there.
Ministry’s plans
Poland’s Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy said that the 2026 budgets of voivodes included 514.525 million zlotys for county and voivodeship institutions, as well as 46.325 million zlotys in a targeted reserve. The draft budget for next year provides for 563.189 million zlotys in voivodes’ budgets and 14.104 million zlotys in reserve funds.
According to the ministry, county and city institutions process around 65% of applications within 60 days, including 28% in the first 30 days. The ministry is also completing an analysis of the disability assessment system, benefits and other support instruments. By the end of 2026, it plans to prepare a diagnostic report with recommendations for changes.
