The Development of the Private Health Sector in Hungary in a European Context

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the situation of private healthcare providers in Hungary and their relationship with publicly funded healthcare. The private healthcare sector is growing significantly in Hungary and worldwide. As a percentage of GDP in Hungary, government spending on health has always been among the lowest in Europe, averaging 5% over the last 20 years. The Hungarian state-financed healthcare continues to operate on a single-payer national health insurance system. Therefore, private healthcare is financed exclusively by private insurance and/or out-of-pocket. In 2021, the Hungarian population spent HUF 420 billion on private outpatient and inpatient care. Based on 2021 balance sheet data in Hungary, 195 providers had an annual net turnover of more than HUF 100 million, with a combined net turnover of HUF 211 billion in 2021. The total number of full-time employees was 8336, with a total of 4 218 doctors (employed or contracted) in 114 specialties, which means that a parallel healthcare system has been set up along with public care. The joint management of public and private care capacities and the introduction of sector-neutral financing would improve access to publicly funded care. Widely available and transparent private health insurance schemes could reduce the population's out-of-pocket burden. It would also be essential to increase participation in health savings schemes, as although there are currently more than 1 million members of health insurance funds, the average value of the personal accounts is meager.

Keywords

• private health
• health systems
• health insurance
• health expenditures
• hungary