These people will receive a senior voucher. There is a key condition

During Tuesday’s meeting, the government adopted the draft act on the coordination of long-term care and the elderly. It provides for the introduction of a senior voucher.

Senior voucher. Who will receive?

The benefit is available to people who are over 65 years of age and have citizenship of Poland, the European Union, the European Economic Area, the Swiss Confederation or Great Britain and Northern Ireland. An important condition is not to exceed the income threshold of PLN 3,410.

It is worth emphasizing that the senior voucher will not be paid in cash. It will cover ad hoc services lasting a maximum of two weeks.

The scope of support will include, among others: assistance in dressing, preparing meals, keeping order, or assistance in using health services.

The voucher is to be launched gradually, first in communes where there are no public care services for seniors.

In a recent comment for “Wprost”, the originator of the introduction of the voucher, Marzena Okła-Drewnowicz, government representative for senior policy (formerly minister for senior policy), emphasized that for many local governments “a big challenge is the huge deficit of properly prepared staff.”

– It is necessary to encourage and create conditions for potential caregivers to take up employment in the care services sector, especially since not all municipalities provide these services, despite the statutory obligation – emphasized Okła-Drewnowicz.

The concept of a senior voucher appeared at the beginning of 2024. The project presented in the autumn of that year provided for support of up to PLN 2,150 per month (corresponding to the value of approximately 50 hours of specialist care) in the form of services for people over 75 years of age. The current act lowers the age threshold to 65 and changes the formula of the benefit to ad hoc services in kind.