The Impact of Social Security Reform on the Financial Effectiveness of the Polish Social Security Administration (Zaklad Ubezpieczen Spolecznychor ZUS)

Abstract

The article presents the financial effectiveness of the Social Insurance Administration before and after the systemic reform of the Polish social insurance system in 1999. In Poland the functions of contribution collection and social benefit payment are administered and managed by an institution with over 80 years of experience i.e. the Social Insurance Administration. The changes implemented in 1999 fundamentally amended the functioning of this institution and, above all, its financial effectiveness. The completed study proved that the system reform seriously reduced the level of the Social Insurance Administration financial effectiveness, which caused an increase in the share of the state (i.e. de facto taxpayers) in maintaining its current financial status. The reform of the social security system was primarily intended to eliminate state subsidies to ZUS, but the currently implemented solutions may soon lead to its bankruptcy and the collapse of the public finance sector in Poland.