Aftermath of ban on Hungarian medical doctors' informal payment

Abstract

Since 2020, Hungary's penalty law has banned any undue advantage or its promise for medical services. Parallel, the Health Care Act in force was changed concerning the legally acceptable allowances for medical care. Hungary's medical community and the patients received these changes as ending of the perverse informal payment system parasitizing the public financing. Informal payment disappeared indeed, but it will be hard to get rid of its ruins left behind. For creating transparency, first the health care workers' and general practitioners' quasi informal payment and finally the specialists' so-called parallel net-income (paid by patients' para-solvency) - which was an illegal fee for pretended private practice in the public health care - must be cleared. This pretence was eradicated by clear separation of private and public services. The key issue of any further changes is rearranging the in- and outpatient secondary care run either/or as integrated, separated or partially mixed systems. Determined by ownership, financial and professional environment, the only model will survive in the new era which is based on economic sector neutrality, complies well with the aims of health policy and interests of medical doctors and their patients. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(14): 523-532.