Free Medicines in Poland for Under-18s and Over-65s: How It Works
Short answer: Poland gives free prescription medicines to under-18s (code DZ) and people 65+ (code S) for products on the Health Ministry's D1/D2 lists. Eligibility follows health insurance, not citizenship, so insured foreign residents qualify on the same terms.
Poland runs one of Europe's more generous prescription perks: a programme of completely free medicines for everyone under 18 and everyone 65 and over. Many expat families and senior residents simply do not know it exists and keep paying for prescriptions they could collect for nothing. Here is how the bezpłatne leki programme works, based on the Health Ministry's official guidance.
Who qualifies
The programme covers two age groups: children and teenagers who have not yet turned 18, and adults who have turned 65. The age condition applies twice - on the day the prescription is issued and on the day it is filled at the pharmacy. The rules were set in their current form by the law of 13 July 2023, which expanded a programme that originally covered only people over 75; prescriptions with the new entitlements have been issued since 30 August 2023.
Critically for foreigners, eligibility is not about citizenship. The Health Ministry's conditions require that the patient is "entitled to healthcare services" - in practice, covered by Polish health insurance, typically through the National Health Fund (NFZ). An insured foreign child or an insured foreign senior qualifies on the same terms as a Polish patient.
What is actually free
Not every medicine - a defined list. The programme covers products on the Health Ministry's reimbursement list in two dedicated annexes: D1 for patients under 18 and D2 for patients 65 and over. The list includes prescription medicines and also certain medical devices and foods for special medical purposes. The doctor must also have diagnosed a condition that falls within the reimbursed indications for the given product, so a free-medicines prescription follows the same medical logic as any reimbursed prescription.
The list is not static: the Health Ministry updates the reimbursement list periodically, so a product that was chargeable last year may be free now, and vice versa. The current list is published on the ministry's website.
The two codes that matter: DZ and S
The whole mechanism runs on a code the prescriber writes in the "entitlement code" field of the prescription: DZ for a patient under 18, S for a patient 65 or over. At the pharmacy, the code tells the system to charge nothing for products on the D1 or D2 list. A prescription written without the code cannot be filled free of charge, even if the patient qualifies by age and the medicine is on the list - so it is worth checking the code before leaving the doctor's office. For e-prescriptions, the code is set electronically and visible in the Internet Patient Account (IKP).
Who can write the prescription
According to the ministry, free-medicine prescriptions can be issued by doctors and nurses working in primary care (including paediatricians and night and holiday care), doctors and nurses in specialist outpatient care, and hospital doctors, including emergency department and admission ward staff, within their NFZ contracts. Before prescribing, the prescriber must check the patient's other prescriptions in the IKP system for safety - one reason Poland's e-prescription infrastructure matters to this programme.
Practical notes for expat families and seniors
A few points that make the programme work smoothly. Register your children with a family doctor (POZ) so DZ prescriptions come from a doctor who knows them; the same doctor route applies to the S code for seniors. If a pharmacist says a medicine is not covered, the reason is usually that it is not on the D1/D2 annex or the diagnosis falls outside the reimbursed indications - a paid alternative on the same prescription is normal. And because the age condition is checked again at the pharmacy, a prescription written just before an 18th birthday cannot be filled free after it.
Frequently asked questions
### Do foreign children get free medicines in Poland?
Yes, if they are covered by Polish health insurance. The programme for under-18s (prescription code DZ) and for people 65+ (code S) depends on entitlement to healthcare, not citizenship, so insured foreign residents qualify on the same terms.
Are all medicines free for over-65s and children?
No. Only products on the Health Ministry's D1 (under-18) or D2 (65+) annexes of the reimbursement list, prescribed for a condition within the reimbursed indications, are free. Other medicines are charged at their normal reimbursement or full price.
How do I get a free-medicine prescription?
From a doctor or nurse in primary care, specialist outpatient care or hospital services. The prescriber must enter the code DZ (patient under 18) or S (patient 65+) on the prescription; without the code, the pharmacy cannot fill it free of charge.
Since when does the programme cover people 65 to 74?
Since 30 August 2023. Before that date, the S code covered only patients over 75; the law of 13 July 2023 expanded free medicines to everyone 65 and over and to all children and teenagers under 18.
