health care reform
December 22, 2009, 10:00 CET
Fidesz leader reportedly plans ministry mergers after election
Head of the main opposition Fidesz party Viktor Orban plans to merge the ministries of health, social affairs, culture and education if Fidesz wins next year's parliamentary elections, daily Nepszabadsag said on Monday quoting sources close to the party. Orban... [read complete entry]
September 04, 2009, 10:13 CET
Hospital financing set for rethink
Hungary's current system of financing the operation of hospitals contains "dysfunctional elements" which need to be changed, Health Minister Tamas Szekely said on Thursday. Szekely added, however, that directions for the actual changes had not been defined as yet. On... [read complete entry]
June 05, 2009, 12:04 CET
Jobbik anti-corruption campaign infected by contact with sleaze "patient zero"
In addition to its unabashed "Hungary for the Hungarians" nationalism, the right-wing Jobbik has been actively campaigning on a pledge to clean up Hungary's endemic corruption. As we saw yesterday, party chief Gábor Vona appeared with Hungarian Doctors' Association president... [read complete entry]
June 04, 2009, 12:43 CET
Jobbik demands "corrupt" politicians be held to account
Jobbik, a non-parliamentary radical party which polls indicate will win at least one seat in the European Parliament, is calling for a change of government and for Hungary's ruling politicians to be "held to account", the party's leader, Gabor Vona,... [read complete entry]
November 05, 2008, 10:10 CET
Fidesz slams new budget bill, "fatal" health care cuts
Fidesz MPs spoke out against spending reductions in the proposed 2009 budget in Parliament yesterday, with Imre Pesti calling the cuts in health care "fatal."... [read complete entry]
July 25, 2008, 11:32 CET
Socialists begin new talks on health care reform
New initiatives to follow collapse of earlier effort to introduce private capital into state-run health system. [read complete entry]
July 15, 2008, 12:12 CET
Fidesz politicians critical of Mikola's words on Hospinvest
The former Fidesz health minister's comments have upset many of his colleagues within his own party. [read complete entry]
July 03, 2008, 11:45 CET
Multi-insurer health care back on the cards
Despite the dismal failure of the last health insurance bill at the recent referendum, new health minister Tamás Székely has recommended more of the same with a proposal similar to the governments previous effort. [read complete entry]
May 27, 2008, 09:26 CET
Parliament repeals controversial health insurance law
Free Democrats only MPs to vote against voiding of failed government initiative; opposition says government should now account for "dark era" of health care reform. [read complete entry]
May 22, 2008, 01:31 CET
Prime Minister provides optimistic view on Hungary in interview
In face of setbacks, the prime minister nonetheless expressed a positive view on the remaining part of the current government cycle. [read complete entry]
May 22, 2008, 09:50 CET
Cabinet decides on handouts for doctors
Health minister says Ft 10 billion to be reserved for GPs in next year's budget. [read complete entry]
May 21, 2008, 09:41 CET
Election Commission chairman says new health care referendum not needed
Proponents of new vote on multi-payer insurance system have already collected enough signatures to force referendum. [read complete entry]
May 14, 2008, 09:22 CET
Health minister addresses health fund issue
The new health minister led the withdrawal of the proposed healthcare reform bill as a Fidesz MP urged the Socialists undertake some soul searching. [read complete entry]
May 13, 2008, 01:51 CET
Nothing to show for the healthcare law except the bill
After the Socialist Party effectively withdrew the healthcare reform bill, the only thing it accomplished was the expenditure of money. [read complete entry]
May 05, 2008, 11:50 CET
Socialist party to withdraw health insurance law
Referendum result and political opposition have forced the government to cancel plans to introduce a multi-insurer system. [read complete entry]
April 30, 2008, 10:15 CET
Cabinet, doctors reach agreement on compensation for lost visit fees
New agreement will allocate Ft 150-160,000 extra funds to GPs, pediatricians and dentists. [read complete entry]
April 25, 2008, 02:02 CET
Health reform returns to top of political agenda
New health minister to be named on Sunday as government makes humiliating U-turn on payments to doctors [read complete entry]
April 22, 2008, 03:45 CET
Three weeks after political death, ex-minister accused of being "too lively"
Hungarian Health Minister Ágnes Horváth has only eight days to go before officially leaving her post, following the timetable agreed when her dramatic sacking took place last month. But for the Socialists who wanted Horváth gone bad enough to spark... [read complete entry]
April 14, 2008, 10:31 CET
Doctors give government ultimatum
GPs say cabinet must address issue of revenues lost following referendum [read complete entry]
April 10, 2008, 11:51 CET
Referendum on health care unlikely to be held this year
Backers of a new referendum which seeks to prevent the influx of private capital into Hungary's state administered healthcare system plan to submit the signatures they gathered later this week. [read complete entry]
April 09, 2008, 04:25 CET
Minority government expected to announce program on May 1
The program of the Socialist minority government is to be drawn up along the lines of the previously announced "Work, Knowledge, Property" program and the health care reform by the end of this month, reports daily Népszabadság, a paper considered... [read complete entry]
April 09, 2008, 11:16 CET
Socialists count on opposition support for new, privatization-free health bill
Ildikó Lendvai, caucus leader of governing party MSZP has told HírTV that the party hopes to pass a modified health care privatization law even as a minority government by garnering the support of the opposition.... [read complete entry]
April 01, 2008, 11:40 CET
SZDSZ quits Hungarian government over Horváth sacking
Liberal junior coalition partner SZDSZ has announced that it will quit the government on April 30, leaving Prime Minister residing over a parliamentary minority. [read complete entry]
March 31, 2008, 01:37 CET
Government in crisis after PM sacks health minister
Liberal head calls for SZDSZ minister to leave posts as MPs boycott Parliament; emergency meeting to decide fate of coalition set for tonight. [read complete entry]
March 27, 2008, 10:10 CET
"Referendum Couple" to overcome linguistic difficulties in quest for vote
After the Albert couple (Albert házaspár) collected 400,000 signatures for the referendum on privatizing healthcare, it turned out that their question contained a mistake which means that even if the question passed, it would not affect government policy. Undeterred, the... [read complete entry]
March 27, 2008, 09:18 CET
Socialist section chief calls for reevaluation of the coalition
The section chief of the Socialist Party's "Third Wave" has called for reevaluating the coalition with the Free Democrats over friction with the reforms. [read complete entry]
March 25, 2008, 10:00 CET
Socialists ready for 2010 election without Gyurcsány
The Socialist Party intends to win 2010 parliamentary elections with or without Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and the party could begin to prepare for the next elections without him, it was pronounced on Thursday night. The comments were made at... [read complete entry]
March 20, 2008, 12:20 CET
Free Democrat chairman threatens to leave governing coalition
Faced with Socialist Party fears of another referendum loss, the Free Democrats are threatening to leave the coalition if healthcare privatization does not more forward. [read complete entry]
March 20, 2008, 12:16 CET
Hungarian doctors try to resist healthcare privatization
The Hungarian Chamber of Doctors is encouraging the employees of Eger's Ferenc Markhot Hospital to stick to their civil servant status and refuse to work as entrepreneurs, as the new maintainer of the hospital Hospinvest Zrt. has suggested they do.... [read complete entry]
March 20, 2008, 09:27 CET
Coalition in mini-crisis over speed of reforms, cabinet shuffle in the cards
There is a good chance that a cabinet shuffle will take place within the government as tensions between the coalition partners mount. [read complete entry]
March 18, 2008, 10:14 CET
Semantic problems anticipated in fall health care referendum
As the opposition prepares for a new referendum, the government has muddied the argument by claiming the wording of the question means it will have no effect on policy. [read complete entry]
March 13, 2008, 09:21 CET
Orbán vows to scrap multi-player health insurance if elected
Viktor Orbán has made it clear that if Fidesz is reelected in 2010, then they will undo the reforms currently being enacted by the government, citing overwhelming support in the referendum as proof Hungarians don't want health care changed. [read complete entry]
March 11, 2008, 09:59 CET
Health ministry flip-flops on hospital safes, opposition suspects conflict of interests
Following the referendum landslide that will reverse some of the reforms introduced by the government last year, the health ministry is coming under fresh attacks from the opposition over its program to install safes next to every hospital bed. The... [read complete entry]
February 29, 2008, 10:03 CET
Doctors launch website opposed to the visit fee
Doctors have launched a website against the visit fee, while another doctor is accused of collecting signatures in favor of the fee on behalf of the government. [read complete entry]
February 21, 2008, 10:12 CET
National television presenter dismissed over ethics violations involving politicians
TV presenter András Bánó will cease hosting MTV's "Nap-kelte" talk show from February 25, the company's management decided on Wednesday. On January 10 Bánó shouted at Socialist MP József Karsai and would not allow fellow journalists to pose questions, MTV's... [read complete entry]
February 15, 2008, 09:27 CET
President needs to sign new health care bill by Monday
"The president received the health bill that is waiting for his signature this Wednesday," Ferenc Kumin, strategy and communications director of the Presidential Office announced. President László Sólyom has until Monday to sign the bill, which according to the constitution,... [read complete entry]
February 13, 2008, 10:00 CET
Health insurance battle not over, says opposition
The story of the health care bill is far from over, as Fidesz morally supports a referendum drive to halt the implementation of the bill, caucus leader Tibor Navracsics told a Tuesday press conference. The governing majority knows that the... [read complete entry]
February 12, 2008, 09:41 CET
Parliament passes bill on multi-player health insurance, again
The government's controversial health bill has been passed for a second time despite protests and opposition indignation, and this time President László Sólyom can't send it back for review. [read complete entry]
February 08, 2008, 09:31 CET
Parliament to be cordoned off in preparation for health care vote
In anticipation of protesters, police release plans to fence off Kossuth Square and thus access to parliament from the the public. [read complete entry]
February 06, 2008, 09:48 CET
Two Socialist MPs to defy party whip over health care bill
Socialist MPs József Karsai and Imre Farkas said yesterday that they will not vote in favour of the amended health care bill in Parliament next Monday. "I will vote against the bill and face the music," declared Karsai, mayor of... [read complete entry]
January 28, 2008, 09:51 CET
Gyurcsány downplays tuition, visiting fees
"Neither tuition nor visiting fees are an essential element of the reforms, and thus the upcoming referendum will have no major influence on my governing," Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány said in an interview with Friday's issue of the Swiss conservative... [read complete entry]
January 15, 2008, 09:52 CET
Doctors collect signatures against health care reform
The Party of Unity for the Health of our Nation, better known as the doctors party, is already collecting signatures ahead of an eventual referendum on a multi-player health insurance system. Several unions have vowed to press ahead with the... [read complete entry]
January 09, 2008, 09:12 CET
Socialist MPs would abolish the doctor visit fee
An increasing number of Socialist MPs are in favor of abolishing the unpopular doctor visit fee, writes Origo.hu. Among them are Károly Tóth, who in November proposed a bill with this very idea at its core, before later rescinding it.... [read complete entry]
January 09, 2008, 08:58 CET
The challenge for Fidesz will be to maintain their current pace
Finding themselves in the position of popular by default, the main challenge for Fidesz will be to maintain this popularity by remaining on the outside. [read complete entry]
January 04, 2008, 04:07 CET
Conference on health reform protest barred from hospital
State Health Centre director István Szilvásy has forbidden the use of MÁV Hospital as the site of a conference on organising social resistance to health insurance reform. The hospital issued a permit on December 27 for the NGO Hungarian Social... [read complete entry]
January 03, 2008, 09:40 CET
Monks continue hunger strike against health care reforms
Jesuit monks László Vértesaljai and József Hofher have been on hunger strike since before Parliament passed the bill on transforming health insurance on December 17. They believe the new bill will put the poor in a disadvantageous position.... [read complete entry]
January 02, 2008, 03:26 CET
Sólyom returns health insurance bill to Parliament
The government's controversial health insurance bill is approved in principle by Hungarian president László, but he warns that garnering support among doctors is essential to ensuring its success. [read complete entry]
December 21, 2007, 09:23 CET
Gyurcsány evaluates 2007 as successful year
Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány said in his end of year assessment on Thursday that the government's transformations of higher education, public administration and health care have been a triumph. He remarked that, in the latter area, such intense pressure has... [read complete entry]
December 20, 2007, 10:07 CET
Socialist MP explains absence from voting on health bill
Tiszazug Socialist MP Imre Farkas said in an interview with the daily Új Néplap on Wednesday that he did not want to lend his support to the new health insurance bill, nor did he want to support the opposition with... [read complete entry]
December 18, 2007, 01:55 CET
Symbol-swiping Free Dems accused of liberal attitude toward international trademarks
Two jokes out of one advertising campaign, now that's efficiency! Aside from the unintended message sent by the Free Dems' (SZDSZ) pro-health care reform advertising campaign, apparently the ads have raised the ire of the Red Cross, since the symbol,... [read complete entry]
December 18, 2007, 11:59 CET
Parliament passes health care reform bill
Party discipline overrides concerns among governing coalition MPs as health care reform bill passes on a party-line vote. [read complete entry]
December 17, 2007, 08:52 CET
Socialists rally behind Gyurcsány
Party's national council backs PM in Saturday meeting; vows MPs will vote for controversial health care reform bill due in Parliament this afternoon. [read complete entry]
December 14, 2007, 09:18 CET
Vote on health insurance bill not likely to be postponed
Speaker Katalin Szili told Magyar Hírlap on Thursday that she sees no hope for putting off the final vote on the health insurance bill in Parliament on Monday, despite the planned wave of wide-ranging protests.... [read complete entry]
December 13, 2007, 10:03 CET
Parliament should postpone health reform vote, Speaker says
Parliamentary Speaker Katalin Szili has suggested postponing the vote on the health insurance reform scheduled for Monday, December 17, until February, writes news portal Ma.hu, based on a report by state news wire MTI.... [read complete entry]
December 13, 2007, 09:37 CET
Public figures urge Socialist Party against health insurance bill
Some 140 public figures, including sociologist Zsuzsa Ferge, philosopher Miklós Tamás Gáspár, and Védegylet executive András Schiffer, urged the Socialist Party in an open letter issued Wednesday to reject health insurance reform plans now before Parliament.... [read complete entry]
December 10, 2007, 09:29 CET
Fidesz releases party manifesto, critics cite lack of funds
Fidesz releases new manifesto which reveals party plans on reform [read complete entry]
December 07, 2007, 09:38 CET
Opposition walks out of health committee
Fidesz and Christian Democrat MPs walked out of Thursday's meeting of Parliament's health committee, complaining that they did not have enough time to consider nearly 40 motions for amendment to the bill on transforming the health insurance system.... [read complete entry]
December 06, 2007, 08:44 CET
Coalition reaches agreement on doctor visit and hospital fees
The two coalition parties agreed in talks led by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány Wednesday evening that fees for visits to doctors and for stays in hospital will remain in effect, but will be paid by the planned public-private health insurance... [read complete entry]
December 04, 2007, 11:18 CET
Governing coalition reaches compromise on health care
The governing coalition of Socialists (MSZP) and Free Democrats (SZDSZ) struck a deal on Monday over health care reform, which has been the most contentious issue between the governing parties, according to a report in Earthtimes.org. According to recently resigned... [read complete entry]
December 03, 2007, 11:24 CET
Unions offer to reimburse MPs who vote against reforms
A trade union leader has offered to pay Ft 100,000 (€394) to every Socialist MP who votes against the bill on health insurance reforms on December 17, since they would be obligated to pay a Ft 100,000 fine to their... [read complete entry]
December 03, 2007, 11:08 CET
Opposition leader warns potential health care reformers
Fidesz chairman Viktor Orbán announced that those business interests who seek to privatize health care will pay to undo it if Fidesz comes to power.
[read complete entry]
November 30, 2007, 11:53 CET
Controversy over expert chosen to advise government on health reform
Economist Péter Mihályi previously claimed villages are "out-dated" and should be "abolished." [read complete entry]
November 23, 2007, 11:43 CET
Defense minister says Hungary's stability depends on coalition's survival
Socialist deputy head identifies health reform as primary stumbling block [read complete entry]
November 20, 2007, 11:11 CET
Socialist MP would end visit fee and hospital day fee
From January, the Socialist party would end the doctor's visit fee and hospital day fee, according to a proposal by Socialist MP Károly Tóth, writes conservative daily Magyar Nemzet based off a report from HírTV. Tóth reasoning behind his proposal... [read complete entry]
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