Hospitals in Hungary are sounding alarm as rising debts restrict operations. Past due debt of hospitals reached €300 million in March 2024, caused by the lack of financing reform, amortisation, and rising energy prices, while inflation rates, wage increases, and overhead costs are not accounted in payments from the National Health Insurance Fund.
As reported by Zsolt Kopári from Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab in a news report, there are very few medical interventions for which the available funding provides sufficient financial coverage.
Zsolt Kiss, the director general of the National Health Insurance Fund (“NEAK”), announced:
“By the end of March, the past due debt of hospitals has reached a concerning HUF 117 billion [€300 million).”
György Velkey, President of the Hungarian Hospital Association, commented:
“The controlling calculations show very clearly that there are hardly any medical interventions for which the funding provides sufficient financial coverage. Thus, the work in hospitals produces constant losses, and unfortunately, hospital management and directors have very little room to move… The Hungarian state does not finance care at the level that people need in terms of quality and quantity… We are also vulnerable to the suppliers…
…the health system has remained underfunded, and the consequences are visible year by year.”
According to the news source, the indebtedness problem has been weighing on Hungarian healthcare for over 20 years despite government debt management measures. However, the situation worsened significantly in 2023 and 2024:
In 2023, debt increased by an average of 3.7 billion [€9,4 mln] per month, it is expected to rise by HUF 20 billion [€50,8 mln] per month in 2024… Seventy-five per cent of the total hospital debt is owned by medical technology suppliers. In 2023, the two top officials of the National Hospital General Directorate and 24 hospital directors were removed from their positions after their hospitals’ debt reached record levels.
Tamás Rádai, the director of the Association of Health Technology and Medical Technology Suppliers (ETOSZ), shared with the Hungarian Telegraph Office that:
“the impacts of hospital indebtedness are already visible in healthcare care: it is becoming more and more common that the operation of a hospital department has to be temporarily suspended. 10-15 per cent of suspensions are due to device supply disruptions.”
It was reminded that primary debt accumulated hospitals was partly caused by the lack of financing reform, amortisation, and rising energy prices. Inflation rates, wage increases, and overhead costs have not been incorporated into financing from NEAK. Older infrastructure, operating procedures, and inadequate management were also mentioned as contributors to high indebtedness.
The source reported that the government planned to settle hospital debts of HUF 104 billion [€264,5 mln] in two instalments. The first payment from the government helped to pay invoices of state-owned suppliers, including energy providers, while pushing back payments to medical device suppliers and pharmaceutical wholesalers for later. The second instalment was expected in July 2024 but there is no information on its fulfilment.
Another source reports that constant hospital debt leads to postponing surgeries and other treatments.
