Hungarian hospitals face financial problems

2010-03-09

Modification in the financing of state-owned hospitals resulted in a 10-15% drop of hospitals' revenues, according to Ferenc Varga, the head of the Hungarian Hospital Association. Although the Hungarian hospitals received HUF 39.5bn (€146m) extra aid from the National Health Insurance Fund (OEP) in January 2010, the majority of the health institutes had to spend the amount on covering their debts. The total debt of the hospitals is estimated at HUF 100bn (€0.37bn).
Payment of wages constitute the highest costs for hospitals, 60-65% of the total. However, the cancellation of the extra payments for so-called 13^th month wages might improve the financial situation of the health institutions. According to Mr. Varga, in order to solve the problem of healthcare funds shortages, the basic average fee for each medical intervention, currently set at HUF 0.146m (€550), should be increased, plus the social insurance contributions should be adjusted to the actual costs of the healthcare system.